The Princess and the Rogue His and her fairytale
by Hatake Megumi
Summary: AU. She was a Princess locked up in an enclosure of walls since she was a baby. He was a rogue who loved challenges. A mysterious prophecy, a soothsayer with odd relatives...AsumaxKurenai fic. Asukure, Naruhina R&R plz!
1. Prophecy

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto you know the rest.

The Princess and the Rogue – His and her fairytale

Chapter 1

Once upon a time, in the faraway land named Konoha, lived a king and queen. One joyous day, the queen gave birth to a beautiful daughter with crimson eyes. They named her Kurenai.

On the day of her naming ceremony, a soothsayer was invited. (Many generations back, King Shikamaru the first considered the fairies too troublesome since they always got angry and cursed the child whenever they forgot to invite one of them and so he banished them.) The soothsayer made a prophecy and from that day on, Princess Kurenai's life was completely changed.

The king ordered that a large one hundred foot wall circle a forest far from the castle. Briars were planted right by the wall and with the help of his wizard ninjas, they grew so thick and tall that they covered the whole wall. Princess Kurenai was then placed in this enclosure along with her nursemaid, Tsunade, never to see the outside world again until her parents – who were unknown to the Princess as she was a couple days old – decided that it was the appropriate time.


	2. Inside the Wall of Briars

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto. You know the routine.

I love Kakashi! – normal

_I love Asuma! _– Kurenai thinking

The Princess and the Rogue – His and her fairytale

Chapter 2 – Inside the Wall of Briars

Kurenai woke up in the small house that was built in a forest that was giant enclosure. Some of the trees have been cleared away and was re A young lady of sixteen, she was already annoyed of the walls that surrounded her. Nothing would please her more than to somehow escape from her prison. But it truly can't be said that she didn't try. Her nursemaid Tsunade and her assistant Shizune, both raised in a country of ninjas always had a good supply of weapons lying around.

At the age of ten, Kurenai found a huge stash of them hiding in a loose floorboard under Shizune's bed (she was trying to hide from Tsunade to avoid a scolding after eating all of her precious chocolate). After finding them, she used a few kunais to try and hack away the briars but with no avail. She was then rewarded by an even bigger scolding by Tsunade, although she felt that her words were said halfheartedly. _Well, she's been locked here with me all her life. She probably wants to leave too…_

As years went by, Kurenai tried to kill the briars so she could safely climb the wall. She tried everything she could. She hacked away at the briars, only to receive numerous cuts from its many thorns; she tried adding rat poison from the cellars to the soil, but the briars grew nonetheless. Exasperated, she slashed the briars viciously but the briars still thrived, thorny as ever.

Now, Kurenai still slashes at the briars, not because she wants to escape but because there's nothing better to do. Tsunade, seeing that there was no point in stopping her taught her some shinobi tricks and over the years, Kurenai mastered them. In fact, she was almost as strong as Shizune (but she had much to learn before she surpasses Tsunade).

So on went her monotone life of slashing at briars and when she was tired, she lay down on the grass watching the birds fly freely in the sky. _I wish I were a bird…_She yawned sleepily in the shade of a tree underneath the afternoon sun. Little did she know that outside the walls that she longed to escape, there was one person who longed to come in…

TBC


	3. Outside the Briar Walls

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto… I don't own Kakashi either… I wish I owned Kakashi… sigh.

The Princess and the Rogue – His and her fairytale

I love Kakashi – normal

I love Asuma – Kurenai thinking(italics) I love Kurenai – Asuma thinking (bold) 

Note #1: Asuma and Kurenai are 16 in this story so Naruto should technically be 2 years old, so let's just say he's about 12 in this story okay?

Note #2: Sorry the chapters are so short; I just can't seem to write long chapters… I'll try and make the next one lengthier.

Chapter 3 – Outside the Wall of Briars

The men stopped at an inn in town. Dusty and weary from riding, they all ordered their ale.

"So Asuma," said one of the men to what appeared to be their leader, "what's so special about this town? There's nothing to do here."

Asuma brushed the dirt away from his bracelet on his right wrist. "Stupid Raidou." he thought. If they had a full-blown discussion of what they, no he, was going to do, the whole inn would know that they were all outlaws ready to go plunder a village if there was something worth stealing. **But this time…** Asuma gave Raidou a look with his dark brown eyes. He knew what that meant. **I'll tell all you guys later.** He sighed and lit a cigarette. **I didn't know that they were this thick not to notice it. It's huge! Just the challenge…**

In their room in the inn…

"So now can you tell us why you brought us here?" Raidou asked exasperatedly. "And don't tell me it has something to do with some challenge you've gotten in your head."

Asuma smiled.

"Actually, it is."

The whole group groaned. Their leader always found some sort of challenge to wrap him into when he wasn't plundering a village. From fighting man-eating rabbits to finding the yellow brick road, Asuma did them all and eventually, he succeeded… the possible ones. But what was so special about this town? Surely they couldn't of ridden for days without end to end up in an useless town to do absolutely nothing!

"SO WHAT ARE YOU GOING TO DO ASUMA-ONIISAN? WHAT ARE YOU GONNA DO?" yelled Naruto, the youngest of his crew.

"Well, I'm surprised all of you haven't noticed it when you rode into town." said Asuma.

"What?" they all asked in unison.

"That giant one-hundred foot green wall over there." He pointed to it. "They say that it's called 'The Wall of Briars' and every inch of it is covered in thorny briars so that no one can get in. Nobody knows what's in those walls and nothing's ever come out of the walls. All everyone here knows is that it was built here sixteen years ago."

Naruto was shocked and goggle-eyed. Everyone else was exasperated.

"Don't tell me that you want to climb that thing." grumbled Genma, another one of his men. Everyone else sighed. They all knew that he was going to.

"You'll get yourself killed." said Kakashi, his non-blood brother and the co-leader of the group.

"You say that every time." replied Asuma with a smirk.

Kakashi smiled (but you really couldn't see through his mask, although his eyes were twinkling). He knew Asuma since the age of three and he knew he was always eager to find challenges and how compelled he was to do them no matter how great the risk.

"I want to see what's on the other side of that wall and that's final. So have a small vacation everyone. Kakashi, you're in charge for the next couple of days. Wakarimasuka? (Do you understand?)"

They all nodded. Naruto yelled, "GAMBATE ASUMA-ONIISAN!"

Asuma looked at the green mass he was going to face from the window of the inn. **I'll see the treasures it bears inside…**

TBC…


	4. Encounters

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto, Kishimoto-sensei does… hey maybe I can buy Kakashi from him…

The Princess and the Rogue – His and her fairytale

I love Kakashi – normal

I love Asuma – Kurenai thinking (italics) I love Kurenai – Asuma thinking (bold) 

Note #1: The italics and bold on the legend doesn't show up for some reason sometimes so just look at he stuff in the brackets if it doesn't. Gomen ne!

Note #2: For this story, the Hyuugas are a normal, everyday family and they are related to…

Chapter 4 – Encounters

Asuma woke up at the crack of dawn. The sun was starting to peak out from the horizon, but all of his men were still asleep. **Good time to start planning this out…** He walked carefully to the door, trying not to step on anyone. He grasped the doorknob but stopped as he heard his name called. He looked back.

"Good luck, and make sure you bring some of the treasure back for us." said Kakashi.

"Sure thing." he replied and with a wave, he stepped out of the room.

* * *

The crisp morning air filled his lungs as he stepped outside. He started towards the woods until the green mass was right in front of him. **It didn't look that tall when we were looking at it from the inn… **Amazed, he stared at the green mass. **Now, to test the briars… **He drew his index finger touched one of the briars; the sharpness of the thorn sent pain shooting down his finger as it drew blood.

"Whoever built this wall didn't want anyone to come in and he really made sure of that." he said out loud. **So, how am I supposed to climb this thing then?**

A dry cackle made him turn around to face an old lady in a black robe.

"So… another adventurer wants to attempt to climb the wall to see the treasures inside." she said. "Many a man hath died here, are you sure you want to risk your life climbing this wall? I can show you the bones of the ones in the past who tried to get in but never did."

"Um… I'll pass. But dear lady, do you know why this wall was built?"

"Yes."

"Could you tell me why then?"

"At a price I will."

"Then name your price dear lady."

"My timid little granddaughter has her eye on that blond boy of yours, although she's too shy to admit it. If I help you, I want you to introduce this boy of yours to my granddaughter."

Is she serious? This is the easiest deal I ever had to make! I'm sure Naruto would enjoy himself… I'll just make sure he's nice to the girl.

"You've got yourself a deal."

They shook hands and the deal was set.

"So… how are you supposed to help me?" asked Asuma.

"With this."

The old lady pulled out a broomstick from her robes. She looked at Asuma who had a surprised look on his face.

"Are you some sort of witch or something?"

"Witch? I'm a soothsayer can't you tell?"

"Then why do you carry a broom around?"

"Oh, well… my cousin's nephew's mother's husband's stepfather's uncle's grandmother's….

(Five minutes later…)

"…dog's neighbour's midwife's husband's cousin's aunt is a witch and she gave this to me to help travel with my weary back.

"Umm… okay." Asuma muttered, regretting that he ever asked the question.

"Now, listen closely, I don't want any accidents with this broom, and you still need to introduce that boy to my granddaughter so… To make the broom fly, you hold on to it with one hand and tap it with the other and say hover."

Asuma felt a bit stupid and did what the old soothsayer said. Sure enough, the broom was hovering a metre off the ground as he was holding on to it.

"Now, don't let go or it might fly off on you. Mind you, that happened to me once and I couldn't find it for days and it ended up near an active volcano. Now, climb onto the broom and tell it to fly. It will shoot straight up until you tap it again and then you steer simply by turning the handle towards where you want to go. Easy enough?"

"Yep!" he yelled at he was already many metres off the ground. He waved and flew off.

"Idiot." muttered the soothsayer.

Asuma was rising higher and higher and he was quickly reaching the top of the wall. **This is nice but I better not look down… if anyone sees me, I probably look like an idiot.**

When Asuma was slightly past the top of the wall, he steered the broom towards the middle of the enclosed space. He saw some of the forest that was not unlike the part of the forest outside the walls, and a part where all the trees were cleared. At the edge of the clearing, close to a part of the walls, was a pretty big mansion-like house. A garden replaced the once tree-filled part of forest; specks of bright colour proved that many flowers in the garden were in bloom. **This is odd…** he thought as he saw that the inside of the wall was also covered in the thorny briars that covered the outside of the wall. **So whoever built this probably didn't want anyone or anything to come out either…**

Asuma circled the enclosure one more time to look for a place to land. He decided on the clearing near the house. Maybe he'll find someone who lives inside the walls and give an answer to his many questions. And then… **Wait! How the heck am I supposed to land this thing? Great, why didn't I ask the old windbag how to land before I took off? Baka… Well, I have to land sometime so I guess it's now or never…** Asuma tipped the broom handle downwards, towards the middle of the clearing. With his fingers partially crossed, he hoped that he won't be injured… much.

The broom was flying downwards at a breakneck speed and Asuma used all the strength he had to hold on. The broom kept flying until it was a couple of inches from the ground, stopped and tipped over, tossing Asuma towards the wall of briars. Asuma tried not to fall into the wall. He stopped himself just in time but unfortunately, his shoulder fell into the briars and he had received a deep cut.

"Stupid broom." he said as he kicked it against the wall. It bounced off it and fell on the grass beside the wall.

* * *

Kurenai woke up from under the tree to strange noises. _What on Earth is going on?_ Still groggy from her nap, she got up to see what was happening. Walking towards the house, an odd sight befell her. _Could this be some sort of dangerous person?_ Shizune and Tsunade's lessons started to come back into her head. She quickly hid in the closest tree to spy on the newcomer. He was holding his shoulder, which was bleeding profusely. _How did he get in?_ After a couple of minutes of surveying his surroundings, the stranger set off for the house. _This is where I come in._ Leaping from the tree, she jumped and landed right in front of him. Taking a kunai from her sleeve, she held it up.

"What are you doing here? How did you get in?" she demanded.

Little did she know that the stranger in front of her was going to change her life… completely.


	5. A Couple of Nasty Injuries

Disclaimer: Naruto n'appartient pas à moi. Naruto does not belong to me. Must remember some French over the holidays or I'll forget it all. Sigh… I still mourn over the death of – I will not say lest HP fans kill me. Wait – why am I rambling so? Kakashi save me. Sauvez-moi, Kakashi-sama! Tasukete Kakashi-sama! (Is that how you say save me in Japanese?)

The Princess and the Rogue – His and her fairytale

I love Kakashi – normal

_I love Asuma – Kurenai thinking (italics)_

**I love Kurenai – Asuma thinking (bold)**

**Note #1: Kurenai and Asuma are 16 in this story and Naruto is 12.**

**Note #2: Naruto is drawn and written by a Japanese writer. In Japanese the names are written last name then first name. Ex: Hatake Kakashi. Hatake is the last name and Kakashi is the first name. (And no, watashi no namae wa Megumi ja nai. No my name is not Megumi… don't ask.)**

**Note #3: The Hokage Asuma speaks of is MADE UP and DOES NOT EXIST in the Naruto series.**

**Note #4: I refuse to update until I get a review of some sort... it's kinda sad not getting any feedback so I might be writing absolute crud and not knowing it.**

Chapter 5 – A Couple of Nasty Injuries

In the previous chapter…

Leaping from the tree, she jumped and landed right in front of him. Taking a kunai from her sleeve, she held it up.

"What are you doing here? How did you get in?" she demanded.

* * *

Asuma groaned. His shoulder, cut from the briars was bleeding profusely and some random person was threatening to attack him. **Wonderful! I'm having a great day… not.** Clutching his shoulder, he finally looked clearly at his attacker. He blinked and looked again. In front of him was not some thug as he expected but a young lady. A pretty one nonetheless. Her long hair framed her pretty face that was accented by her crimson eyes and lips. Asuma didn't feel the pain in his shoulder anymore. Instead, he was distracted, gaping at the beauty before him.

Kurenai waited for an answer from the stranger. The only answer she got was the idiotic expression on his face that indicated that he was checking her out. _What an idiot._

"I'll give you one more minute to tell me what you're here for and how you got in!" she yelled.

"I – I … I was um…" Asuma was stuttering… a slight blush came to his cheeks. **I feel so stupid at the moment; I don't think my brain is working properly.**

Kurenai sighed.

"You all right?" she asked, her tone a little softer. "You seem to have injured yourself when you came in here. We'll clean that bit for now and then you could tell me. I'll go get the medical supplies."

She ran into the house and came back with a box. She sat down beside him and in a few minutes, the deep cut was cleaned and bandaged. Putting everything back into the box, she finally said:

"Are you going to answer my questions or do I have to beat them out of you?"

Asuma was surprised at the comment. A good fighter himself, he didn't doubt her fighting abilities. He also didn't want to mess with this young lady… especially not with his injured shoulder. **Besides I don't beat up women for no reason**. The lady did not attack and that gave him no reason to defend himself.

"Uhh… I guess, I should start with my name… I'm Sarutobi Asuma… I'm sort of a um… outlaw, well the leader of a group of exiles. I'm here 'cause, well, during my travels if I encounter any sort of interesting challenge… I decide to do them and well… this wall seemed interesting and all and as I challenge I um… decided to try and get to the other side and see what's there. And here I am… talking to the prettiest creature living on the other side of the wall…"

He unconsciously flushed at that statement. **I must sound like a complete moron. And maybe a bit like a naïve schoolboy… or a dirty old man trying to get a date. **He wanted to hit himself over the head for acting like an idiot all of a sudden but he refrained himself from doing so to prevent himself from looking even more like an idiot.

"So how did you get over the wall?"

"Huh? Oh! Some soothsayer who was I guess you can say distantly um… related to a witch. She lent me her broomstick in exchange for introducing her granddaughter to one of my men… okay he's only twelve… but he's still part of the crew and that's all that matters." **Why do I keep rambling on like a cretin?**

Kurenai giggled, and the giggle grew into a laugh. **That's a nice sound…**

"I'm sorry," she said while still laughing. "When you said that, I pictured this big guy like you on this tiny broom and… well… I don't know anymore."

A smile finally appeared on her once expressionless face.

"Well… it wasn't hard riding the broom, in fact it's right there."

He walked over the spot near the wall where the broom lay and picked it up.

"Good thing it didn't break when I pretty much crashed. Seriously, I want to hit myself over the head for forgetting to ask the old crone how to land the thing. I swear, I must've looked so damn stupid. I bet you thought, "Who the heck is this fool?" when I came in."

"No, I thought that when you were giving me some deer-in-the-headlights look when I first talked to you. Not to mention when you were just introducing yourself."

Asuma laughed… and laughed… and laughed… until he cried.

"I knew it! I really must've looked like an idiot!" he said and continued laughing as he fell onto the grass.

Kurenai smiled and joined in laughing. For once, she felt a sort of happiness she had never experienced or remembered. _I don't remember laughing this much… ever._ After sixteen years of isolation… Kurenai finally found a friend. As Asuma's laugh subsided, he looked up into the sky… And then he snapped up.

"Hey! I still haven't asked you your name and you already know a lot about me!"

"So knowing that your name is Sarutobi Asuma, outlaw and challenge lover is a lot huh?"

He laughed. "Well, that's not the point. The point is, I still don't know anything about you."

"Well… my name is Kurenai. I don't know my last name since I don't know who my parents are. I've been trapped in here since… since forever with my nursemaid Tsunade, who's also a ninja and her assistant Shizune, who's a ninja too… Other than them, you're the first person who I've talked to. I don't know why I've been put here but my dream is to get out of these walls once and for all and see the world outside. I've been trying to do this for so long and yet… I've never been able to get out. Maybe… maybe you'll be my knight in um… a jounin vest that might get me out of here." She laughed bitterly; Asuma did not reply.

"Hey Asuma," she started, "Do you wear a jounin outfit to disguise yourself or were you a shinobi once, maybe like before you were outlawed."

The sun was setting and Kurenai and Asuma were lying on the grass, immersed in twilight. Asuma sighed.

"Yep… I was a shinobi once. So were all of the guys in my crew. We were shinobi of the hidden leaf village. At the time, the reign of the current Hokage was corrupt. My comrades and I found out that he was actually a shinobi who wanted revenge against the village for some sort of ancient wrongdoing. The Hokage, knowing that we knew his true purpose of becoming Hokage and how he became Hokage through bribing and blackmail, made up an excuse and banished us. And that's how my friends and I became exiles. Fun huh?"

"It… it must be tough… your way of life now, I mean." she said sympathetically.

"Yeah, the boys and I were trained as ninja, so I guess all we do now is offer our services as bodyguards but we don't get much business… Sometimes we resort to stealing but not from the poor people… we know how terrible it is to not have anything but the clothes on your backs. Then again, I guess we have it better than most people. We never get caught stealing since we're all excellent shinobi… and everyone in the crew are like brothers."

"Well, that's good."

"Yup."

A long silence befell them, but it wasn't an awkward one. Both of them just lay there on the grass, contemplating their interesting day.

**Well, I got over the wall… It wasn't an extremely hard challenge seeing that I got help from that old woman but I guess in the end, it was worth it. I met Kurenai; she's… well a lot of things… I can't help but think that… she feels sad… maybe I should help her… escape from here. I'm sure she'd like the world outside. She could be part of the crew; the boys would love her.** A pang went through Asuma. **I wonder if…** He shook his head. **I wonder if she'd like it with us… I mean, we could be rough sometimes, but then again, I wouldn't wanna mess with her. By the way she held her kunai at me this morning, I'm sure she's had training as a ninja, probably from her nursemaid or whatever. Anyways, I'm sure she would do anything to get outside… she just seems depressed whenever she talks about the walls. They would probably look depressing if I had to look at them for my entire life… And I have to admit, it's kinda depressing to see her so depressed. Her lovely face should always smiling…**

_I've been trapped here for… well sixteen years, and I've yet to get out. I had always dreamed that one day I'd meet someone from the outside world. Oddly enough, I guess one of my many wishes came true and I'm thankful that Kami-sama or whoever it is granted that wish. It's nice to have a friend…now, I guess, I just don't feel so alone anymore. Maybe… just maybe he'll take me away from this place. I'd love to see what it's like outside. And once I've gotten a good enough look, I'll go and find my parents. I'll find them and at the same time, I'll find out why I've been locked in this stupid prison. Maybe Asuma will come with me. It's nice not to be alone. Maybe I'll try and make it into a challenge so he can't resist. _She laughed quietly as she gazed at the purple sky overhead._ If I get out, I guess I'll meet the rest of the exiled ninjas…they sound interesting. I wonder what they're like. Hopefully, they'll all be nice… like Asuma._

A shuffling of footsteps snapped them out of their thoughts.

"Asuma, hide out in the woods for the night. Tsunade is coming to tell me to get inside and she probably hasn't seen anyone from the outside for a while. I don't know how she would react so until I do, go and hide where she won't see you. She usually stays in the house during daylight hours doing I have no clue what but she fetches me around this time.If you feel cold, my room is the one on the topmost floor on the left and it has a balcony." She pointed it out to him. "Just knock quietly and I'll get you a sheet or something, 'kay?"

Asuma nodded and with a quick wave goodbye, he disappeared into the trees.

Tsunade came out of the house and walked up to Kurenai, who was staring at the woods with an odd smile on her face.

"Kurenai, you should come in now, it's getting late. Your extremely late dinner is on the table, so go eat it." she said, calmly.

"Thank you."

"I heard you laughing out there this afternoon. What was that all about? It's been a long time since I've heard you laugh."

"Nothing. Just strange thoughts."

"Strange thoughts can be good." Tsunade said as she smiled. "They make you laugh, which is rare." she thought. "She probably doesn't have much to laugh about being stuck here. At least Shizune and I can get out from time to time." They both walked into the house for the night.

* * *

Darkness befell them and the last-quarter moon was shining bright in the sky. Asuma gazed at it with a look of reverence… but in truth, he was just too cold to change his facial expression. Asuma had slept in mountain caves and other woodlands in other places but for some reason, this one forest was just cold. Either that or he just wanted an excuse to go see Kurenai.

* * *

Asuma: I am not! Stop writing dumb things about me! 

Moi a.k.a theauthor: Alright, alright, just joking… whispers not. Muahahahaha. Okay… back to the story.

* * *

He just couldn't bear it anymore. As instructed, he went over to Kurenai's balcony and knocked on her door. For a moment, no sound came from her room. **Maybe she's fast asleep; I probably shouldn't wake her up.** Finally, the door opened to reveal a slightly groggy Kurenai in her silky crimson spaghetti-strapped nightdress. Asuma couldn't help but stare. 

"Are you going to do that every time you see me in a new outfit?" she teasingly whispered.

"Umm… no? I mean yes… or maybe… I don't know?"

"What a witty response. Anyways, I sort of thought you'd probably need a sheet or something. It gets kind of cold during this time."

She crossed the room and took a blanket that was neatly folded on a chair.

"Here you are." she said, as she handed it to him.

"Thanks."

Kurenai looked up at the moon.

"The moon's nice tonight." she remarked as she stepped out into the balcony. Asuma was silent as he looked up towards it and even if he didn't say anything, she knew that Asuma agreed. A breeze drifted by and Kurenai shivered. In that moment she had forgotten that she was outside in her skimpy nightdress.

"You might need this more than I do for now." said Asuma as he draped the blanket over her shoulders. Trying to start a conversation, Kurenai restated:

"The moon's beautiful tonight."

"You're prettier though." replied Asuma. Kurenai blushed. For a moment, they looked at each other, not saying a word. Slowly, Asuma put his arm around Kurenai's waist and started to bend down…

BAM! Suddenly, Asuma flew back many metres and at the same time, breaking the balcony rail. Surprisingly the blow did not come from Kurenai but instead from a surprised Tsunade who had come in to check on the strange noises coming from Kurenai's room. "This is bad," thought Tsunade.

"TSUNADE, WHAT ON EARTH ARE YOU DOING TO ASUMA? YOU DIDN'T KILL HIM DID YOU?" yelled Kurenai.

Tsunade looked at Kurenai wistfully. Kurenai, shot her an angry look and not waiting for a reply jumped down to check on the once again injured Asuma.

"This is bad…" thought Tsunade. "His and her majesty probably won't be pleased."

TBC…


	6. Meanwhile

Disclaimer: For the sixth time, I do not own Naruto. If I did Kakashi would be all mine and Naruto and Hinata would already be a couple. Sigh. Naruto wa baka desu. (Naruto is stupid.)

The Princess and the Rogue – His and her fairytale

I love Kakashi – normal

_I love Asuma – Kurenai thinking (italics)_

**I love Kurenai – Asuma thinking (bold)**

_**I love Hinata – Naruto thinking (bold with italics)**_

**Note: This is one of those chapters authors put in to either build suspense on what happens to the main character or to simply annoy readers while keeping them in suspense. Anyways, I did say another pairing in the fic is Naruhina and I haven't delivered that yet. So please read… I will update ASAP. I always do. :-P P.S I'm sorry if that flashback scene is a little corny.**

Chapter 6 – Meanwhile

To all of Asuma's teammates, they assumed that he had safely gotten over the wall and priding himself over his triumph by now and would be expecting him back soon. Meanwhile…

Somewhere in the deep grove of trees, someone was watching him. He probably did not notice since he was lying on the grass carelessly talking to himself.

"My… Asuma onii-chan's been away for about a day and he hasn't come back yet… I bet he's already gotten over the wall. I've walked around the wall about twice for the past day and I haven't seen him at all. I didn't see his dead body yet… so I'm guessing he's on the other side doing who knows what. I hope he's found some treasure over there… Maybe he's found a huge hoard of ramen! That would be wonderful!" Naruto wondered out loud.

The watcher, keenly gazing at Naruto was amused by that comment, although she was not surprised from her morning hours of watching him, she laughed almost silently in the trees. Doing this, she was caught off guard a startled Naruto who was right in front of her. A small movement in the trees had alerted him of her presence. A little girl about his age stood before him. Her hair was a peculiar shade of violet-blue and her eyes were a curious pearly light pink colour. She was clutching her basket; his sudden appearance must have startled her.

"Oh, hello! You must be one of the village girls! I'm Uzumaki Naruto! What are you doing here?" he said, with a friendly smile.

"Ano…" muttered the shy little girl; a blush was quickly forming on her cheeks. She obviously didn't want to tell him that she had been watching him since he first arrived, admiring his cheery personality. Looking at him, he was still smiling, waiting for her reply.

"Are you feeling okay? You seem to be a bit red in the face… I once saw Iruka sensei go all red like that 'cause he was talking to a girl. It was funny teasing him after that. Iruka sensei was my teacher in the ninja academy before we got banished from Konoha. Damn stupid Hokage. I'll beat him one day and I'll be Hokage and we'll go back home!"

Hinata smiled. This is exactly why she liked Naruto from the beginning.

"Anyways, miss you still haven't told me your name."

"I-I'm Hinata." she said shyly.

"Hinata, that's a pretty name! Oi, Hinata, why were you hiding in the trees?"

Hinata was hoping that he would forget about this question.

"Ano… I wa-was… looking for some herbs for medicine."

"You really shouldn't stutter so much Hinata, people might take advantage of you if they think you're afraid."

The number of times she's heard that from her grandmother… she meant well but she couldn't help it. The number of times she's been called worthless by… It had left the girl deeply scarred. A lump had risen in her throat. She had dropped her basket.

"Sorry Naruto-kun." She looked down as she said it.

"I didn't say that to make you feel bad… Hey! Don't cry!" The boy was nervous as he saw tiny tears form in her eyes. **_What do I do? What do I do? Why didn't they teach us how to handle crying maidens in the ninja academy? _**Naruto was looking around him nervously as if there was something out there that could help him.

* * *

Flashback…

Naruto was walking down the streets of Konoha after an afternoon of mischief in the academy. Iruka, tired from trying to keep Naruto in detention was walking with him. This morning, the boy had found a nice amount of money on the road and decided to treat his sensei to a meal of… ramen! Naruto had always wanted to do this since the day Iruka sensei treated him to his first bowl of ramen at Ichiraku's but felt bad afterwards for Iruka was always to one to pay. This time, he would be the one treating!

**_Miso ramen… pork ramen… _**Naruto was thinking of all the flavours he wanted. Suddenly, he saw a little girl with a man and a woman who Naruto figured was her mum and dad. Naruto stopped and stared at them for a moment. The mother and father were at first yelling at each other until they heard their daughter crying. They stopped, with sorry looks on their faces.

"Hari-chan, Hari-chan, don't cry." said the mother as she bent down and comforted her child.

"Everything's okay Hari-chan," said the father, and he put one of his hands on his wife's shoulder. "Look mummy and I aren't fighting anymore. It was a stupid fight wasn't it Hotaru?"

Hotaru, the mother nodded in agreement, but the girl was still crying.

"I know what would cheer you up," said the father, smiling. "Bear hug!"

The father lifted her little daughter into his arms and held onto her tight as he reached for his wife. All three were embraced in a tight hug. Hari-chan started to laugh.

Naruto stared. Iruka, who was behind Naruto watched him with a sympathetic smile.

"Naruto, we should get going or there aren't going to be any seats left at the ramen stand."

Naruto turned around and ran after Iruka, who was waiting for him. An awkward silence befell them.

"Iruka sensei… Why did the girl's parents hug her?"

"Because being hugged by someone makes you feel better if you're sad like that girl."

By now, Naruto was looking at the ground. Iruka knew how he felt. He went through the same thing when he was about his age. Avoiding the awkward contact of a hug, Iruka patted the boy on the back. Surprised, Naruto looked up and smiled…

**End of Flashback…**

* * *

Naruto was searching his brains for an idea of what to do. Impulsively, he grabbed Hinata in a tight embrace. Hinata, who had barely started crying abruptly stopped, as she was surprised at Naruto's gesture. Blushing, she let Naruto hug her, unaware that both of them were being watched by two people. But to her, it didn't matter. To Naruto, he was simply clueless of how his small gesture made one of her many small wishes come true. Finally, Hinata broke their embrace as she stepped back. Looking away, she blushed. Naruto, realizing what he just did blushed as well. 

"Ano… Sorry 'bout that Hinata-chan. I didn't know what to do and… I remember this thing that happened with Iruka sensei and he said that hugging someone makes them feel better and… and…" Both of them had foolish grins on their faces and both knew that their small problem had been solved. Naruto began to laugh and surely, Hinata joined in with him with her own quiet bit of laughter.

* * *

In one of the inn's rooms, Kakashi and Genma were having tea while playing shogi. (Genma, who had nothing to do, decided to replace Asuma as Kakashi's shogi partner for today.) 

For a moment, both of them looked out the window to see Naruto breaking from a hug with a young lady with violet-blue hair.

"I wonder what happened to Sakura… Naruto was always crazy about that girl when he was in the village…" wondered Kakashi aloud.

"Who knows." replied Genma, as he made his move on the board. Without mentioning the topic for the time being, they continued their game.

* * *

Outside, Hinata and Naruto finished their little laughing fit. 

"Hey Hinata, wanna play a game or something?"

"Okay."

Both of them began a game of tag and eventually many of the village children who took a break during the afternoon, joined in and soon the laughter of children could be heard all over the village. For Hinata, it was one of the best days of her life. To Naruto, he was happy to have a new friend. It had been a satisfying day.

By the end of the day, their game of tag had subsided and Hinata and Naruto were saying their last goodbyes, both of them promising that they will see each other again the next day.

**_It'll be sad when we leave this town… I've never made a friend like that so quickly. Maybe Asuma onii-chan would want to stay a little longer… I wonder when he'll be back from the other side of the wall… I wonder what he found there. _**Naruto was soon lost in his thoughts as he saw Hinata disappear into the woods.

Meanwhile, in a hut near the grove of trees where Hinata and Naruto stood, was the old soothsayer.

"I guess I made a pretty bad deal for myself with that young man… My little granddaughter met that Naruto kid on her own. Good for you Hinata! Oh well… it was partly my fault that that young lady inside is stuck in there…"

TBC…


	7. Half Truths and Explanations

Disclaimer: For the sixth time, I do not own Naruto. If I did then Kakashi wouldn't say that he has no one important to him anymore. And yes, I am crazy and in love with a cartoon character. Fear me… muahahahaha. Why? I don't know.

The Princess and the Rogue – His and her fairytale

I love Kakashi – normal

_I love Asuma – Kurenai thinking (italics)_

**I love Kurenai – Asuma thinking (bold)**

_**Yay! Ramen with Hinata! – Naruto thinking (bold with italics)**_

**Note to The Gandhara**: Thank you very much for the long and wonderful review. **(Thank you to all the others for reviewing too!)** All that feedback was extremely helpful. To answer a few of your concerns:

- Yes, this is my second official fanfic, therefore I am a total beginner still.

- Yes, Kurenai's reaction in ch5 was sudden but well… I guess Shikamaru would say it's troublesome to change it (and I also don't know how…)

- How did Kurenai know about the jounin vest? How do Tsunade and Shizune get out? This chapter will explain hopefully.

- 16 too young to be a rogue group? Well considering that Naruto, Sasuke and the rest of the gang are 12 years old or somewhere around that age and that they are doing high ranked missions at this age (eg. Sasuke retrieval), I deduced that Asuma and Kakashi (and Kakashi became a chunin at the age of 6 and jounin at 12) should be able to handle a rogue group at the age of sixteen. Another example is the fact that team Gai for example were chunins by the age of 16, so umm… get my logic?

**Note #1: Sorry this chapter came a bit later… I was vacation for a while and I had to get around to writing this chapter. To make up for it, it's longer than ever! So I better get some sort of review!**

**Note #2: I CHANGED THE RATING TO T due to minor coarse languagein this chapter.**

**Note #3: In Japanese, consonant sounds are always with a vowel sound. Eg. The –m sounds would go as follows: ma, mi, mu, me, mo. So the first character of Kakashi's name would be 'ka' instead of 'k' like in English. Hope that's clear…**

**Note #4: Watashi no yume means My dream**

**_So ano… Read and Review! Happy Reading!_**

Chapter7 – Half-Truths and Explanations

Last time with Asuma and Kurenai…

BAM! Suddenly, Asuma flew back many metres and at the same time, breaking the balcony rail. Surprisingly the blow did not come from Kurenai but instead from a surprised Tsunade who had come in to check on the strange noises coming from Kurenai's room. "This is bad," thought Tsunade.

"TSUNADE, WHAT ON EARTH ARE YOU DOING TO ASUMA? YOU DIDN'T KILL HIM DID YOU?" yelled Kurenai.

Tsunade looked at Kurenai wistfully. Kurenai, shot her an angry look and not waiting for a reply jumped down to check on the once again injured Asuma.

"This is bad…" thought Tsunade. "His and her majesty probably won't be pleased."

* * *

"Kurenai-sama," said Tsunade, and using the –sama suffix she hadn't used in a long time. "Bring the young man into the house and put him in the guest room." 

Tsunade's face had become suddenly very pale and every word said sounded as if it took all the effort in her body to say. _I've never seen her so distracted. Normally, she can tell whether or not I have a bruise on my knee but she hasn't noticed that Asuma's got a few broken ribs…_

"Tsunade-sama!" cried a distressed Shizune. "What's going on? I heard noises. But how – "

Shizune had finally noticed the injured Asuma beside a worried Kurenai. With a grim look upon her face, she went towards the source of the commotion.

"Shizune, Asuma-san's injured. Please heal him."

The usual bored expression on Kurenai's face was gone and was replaced by an anxious and pleading expression accentuated by her crimson eyes. Through Tsunade and Shizune's training, she could recognize injuries and treat minor ones with herbs and such but one thing she could not master was the art of healing. She could not heal like her teachers and caregivers could.

Shizune, taking a deep breath, put a reassuring hand on Kurenai's shoulder.

"Stop moving you," she demanded to the stranger who was the cause of Kurenai's distress. Immediately, Asuma stopped trying to stand. **Kurenai seems to trust this woman. I guess I'll just have to have faith in Kurenai and whoever this woman is.**

A gentle green chakra appeared on Shizune's hand and she began to heal Asuma's broken ribs. When she was finished, she instructed Kurenai to help her lead Asuma to the guest bedroom, as he was still a little weak. Not caring that she was leaving Kurenai, alone with a strange man she went to Tsunade who had retreated to her room in deep thought.

"Tsunade-sama…" started Shizune.

"I know Shizune. I plan to tell her everything tomorrow morning. But at the same time, I have to follow his and her Majesty's orders."

* * *

Kurenai sat beside the bed in which Asuma was lying. Still a bit shell-shocked from the impact of Tsunade's fist, he wanted to not think of anything and simply rest. And yet questions were darting back and forth from his mind. 

"I'm sorry that all the this happened, Asuma."

"There's no need of an apology," he replied with a smile. Kurenai smiled back with some uncertainty showing in her eyes. She didn't know what was going to happen next.

"Anyways, I should go and let you rest. You've had a rough day. I don't know what's going to happen in the morning but let's hope that everything will be better."

"You know Kurenai, that broom's still in the garden. If they won't let us out we could escape with the broom together you know," stated Asuma. "You could join the boys and I and we'll go around travelling. And if a miracle happens or if Naruto becomes Hokage like he says he will, maybe I can show you Konoha, where I was born."

She smiled. _I've always dreamt of escaping… maybe my prayers of getting out were answered after all and you've just been the person I've been waiting for all my life to get me out of here. Besides, I'd like to stay with him and his crew. It all just sounds like a dream. If it is… I never want to wake up._

"That… would be the most wonderful thing that will ever happen to me."

"Then rest assured milady, I will get you out. I promise."

Kurenai smiled and turned to leave when she saw Tsunade in the doorway. _Did she just hear all of that?_

"Kurenai-sama and I believed Kurenai-sama called you Asuma… anyways, I have come to tell you to rest assured. All will be explained in the morning. I apologize for injuring you Asuma-san." Tsunade bowed curtly and walked towards her room.

"Well, that's good," said Kurenai. "Ano… I should leave now."

"Oyasumimasen (good-night, please tell me I"ve got this right) Kurenai-san."

"Don't call me that, Kurenai-san. You've never called me that and I don't think I've ever called you Asuma-san, Asuma-san." She giggled.

"Then oyasumimasen, Kurenai."

"Oyasumi."

Kurenai left the room and entered her own. She closed the door and took a deep breath. _So many things are happening at once. Maybe… just maybe something good will come out of this._ Lying on her bed, thoughts circulated around her head. It was a long time before she could fall asleep.

* * *

Sleep didn't come for Asuma. Too many questions were left unanswered and this did not please him. **What is that strong, Tsunade-lady gonna ask tomorrow? Why does she seem familiar? Am I going to be punished? How's the crew doing without me? **Finally a light sleep drifted by and allowed Asuma to sleep for a little while but he was woken up by the sound of footsteps going down what sounded like stairs. 

Getting up and stretching his stiff muscles, he opened the door to see a glimpse of slightly wavy black hair and the tiniest bit of crimson clothing going down a flight of stairs. He decided to follow the person down the stairs.

* * *

Shizune woke up sometime after the crack of dawn. She was usually the one who woke up earlier than everyone else since she was the one who cooked breakfast. Tsunade usually slept in really late and his and her Majesty would probably not like the fact that their daughter, the crown princess, was cooking breakfast, although she sometimes did. Kurenai, who had usually nothing to do, would sometimes watch Shizune cook breakfast if she woke up early enough and eventually she figured out how to make a decent meal. 

Walking over the closet, she noticed that a pile of dirtied black yukata lay beside the closet. She hadn't done the laundry in a long time and Tsunade-sama was usually unreliable for household tasks. She sighed. The only outfit left was her jounin outfit from her old days in Konoha. Before she was summoned by the king to protect the princess with Tsunade-sama. She only wore this outfit when she had nothing else to wear, which was often since the laundry was usually the chore that everyone usually forgot to do. She avoided wearing her jounin outfit since she didn't wanted to be reminded of how much she missed Konoha. She sighed. She'll just have to wear that outfit today.

After getting dressed, Shizune opened the door, thinking of what she should make for breakfast. But this time, something was strange. The usually quiet house was filled with the sound of two voices speaking (one at a time of course). At one point, Shizune thought she heard laughter. She walked down the stairs into the kitchen where she saw Kurenai and the strange man from last night. 'I think Kurenai-sama called him Asuma,' she thought. Four plates of breakfast lay on the set table. Kurenai and Asuma were in deep conversation.

"So everybody thought that Iruka and Kakashi were some sort of couple for a while and this made them go into hiding. I think they were scarred for life."

"Do they really… ano… swing that way?"

"I don't think so. I heard that Kakashi had a bit of a sweetheart in Konoha. Can't remember her name though… I think it starts with 'me'. And as for Iruka… well I'm guessing he isn't gay since he seems to react violently with Naruto's harem no jutsu."

"Harem no jutsu?"

"Ano… let's just say that Naruto turns into an attractive girl… with no clothes on."

They both laughed. Shizune, who was still in the doorway couldn't help but smile in confusion. She had never seen Kurenai like this and yet, she was afraid of the young man and Kurenai's fate, not to mention her own. 'What will the consequences be?' she wondered.

"Ohayou, Shizune," said Kurenai who noticed her in the doorway.

"Ohayou gozaimasu minna-san (Good morning everyone)," she replied.

"I made some breakfast so ano… dig in."

She nodded and numbly sat down. Asuma and Kurenai resumed their conversation. Quietly, she observed the two talking. She said nothing for the rest of the meal and by the time she was finished, Tsunade had entered the room. Unusually, she was awake but upon closer inspection, she showed signs that she had not slept the previous night.

Her presence brought silence in the room. Both Asuma and Kurenai were waiting for what Tsunade was about to say to see what the future had in store for them. It seemed to take forever for Tsunade to finish her breakfast. Silence still reigned in the kitchen until Tsunade cleared her throat.

Everyone else in the room was attentive and alert, braving themselves for what will happen next.

"Kurenai-sama, please listen to what I have to say and when I finally finish, you will be able to abuse me the way you wish. But even if you are angry with me afterwards, I beg you to heed my instructions."

She took a deep breath and started her speech.

"Kurenai-sama – "

"Stop calling me that, just call me Kurenai like you always do."

"Kurenai, first of all, I must tell you that you were born to very important people. Your father and mother let's just say have much influence over the country of fire. When you were born, a soothsayer was invited to your naming ceremony and made a prophecy about you. This prophecy is the reason why you are confined in this… this place."

She held up a hand to stop Kurenai from asking her question, took another breath and began talking again.

"I know that you will ask me what the prophecy was, but unfortunately, I don't know. The only people who know are your mother, father and the soothsayer, obviously. All I know is that when we were sent to take care of you and protect you, we had to beware of intruders. Your parents never expected any but Asuma-san somehow managed to come in and now it is time for us to let you go."

Oddly enough, Kurenai had a calm and yet cold look on her face. Slowly, she said, "Continue on please." Tsunade with a serious look on her face did just that.

"Your mother and father ordered us to free you when an intruder with certain characteristics appeared. I will not tell you these characteristics for it may cost me my life. But what is certain is that Asuma-san match these characteristics and when needs to be done must be done."

Tsunade looked straight into Kurenai's eyes.

"Kurenai, you must go to the capital city at once with Asuma. You may also take the tunnel that Shizune and I use at times to get out. It is hidden under the unused shed in the back of the kitchen. Don't give me that look, I was surprised that you overlooked the place and besides, where do you think our food comes from? We gotta get out somehow to get our supplies, they don't magically appear."

Thoughts were running through Kurenai's head. _It was so obvious… why didn't I notice? I was too obsessed with going over the wall, that I overlooked the shed. I checked everywhere else but for some reason I was stupid enough to forget to check the shed. Damn!_

"Anyways, the tunnel will lead you out of the village and right onto a path that leads to the capital city."

"But I can't do that!" said Asuma. "My crew is in the village right now and I refuse to leave without them!"

"Fine then," said Tsunade dryly. "Go over the wall your way and fetch them then go to the capital city." Asuma did not seem reassured by this news. **Great I have to use that broom again and I still don't know how to land. Even worse, if Kurenai's on that broom too, she might get hurt. **

"When you get to the capital city, go to the castle of his and her Majesty and present them with this – " She held up a small silver medal with a crimson stone in the centre, shaped like a flame. "They will know what to do afterwards."

Kurenai took the medal carefully. The black leather cord that suspended the medal was cut by Kurenai and fastened around her neck with Asuma's help.

"Asuma, I want you to make sure that Kurenai is safe no matter what. Looking at you, I'd say that you were a jounin once. Got exiled by that bastard of a hokage, right?"

Asuma stared for a moment and nodded. **Shouldn't come as a surprise, she's incredibly strong and the other woman, Shizune, is wearing a jounin vest after all. **

"In fact, you might know of me. I am Tsunade of the sanins taught by Sandaime Hokage."

"So that's why you seem familiar! You were always in the academy textbooks!" cried Asuma.

"The stupid Godaime was the one who sent me here. I hate that guy, if I ever get my hands on him, I swear he won't live for very long."

"Same thing here," chuckled Asuma.

"Wait…" muttered Shizune. Everyone turned their attention towards her. "Your crew… was that the band of guys who apparently 'plotted against the Hokage' and were exiled?"

Asuma nodded. Tsunade and Shizune gave him looks of sympathy.

"Don't worry, everything will be better. I can probably beat that idiot of a hokage once I go back to Konoha," said Tsunade. A happy look was all over her face.

"Well, I guess… it's time for us to go," said Kurenai. Both she and Asuma got up.

"Wait," said Tsunade. "There's one more thing. Kurenai, your last name is Yuuhi. Your full name is Yuuhi Kurenai. I thought you'd like to know."

With a few hugs, Kurenai and Asuma stepped outside of the house. Asuma got the broomstick and this time, two people got on it. Asuma tapped the broom and told it to hover. It did exactly so; the crash landing did not seem to harm its ability.

**Wow… everything seemed to happen****in a day**_… and our lives seem to have changed. _Away they flew, over the wall as they watch the now tiny figures of Tsunade and Shizune waving goodbye to them.

* * *

Eventually, Tsunade and Shizune went into the house when they couldn't see Asuma and Kurenai anymore. Shizune brought the messenger pigeon from the forest into the house. A kunai quickly whizzed past Shizune's head and struck the pigeon. Tsunade had killed it. 

"Tsunade-sama," said a shocked Shizune. "Why?"

"We were supposed to send that thing with a message when we released Kurenai so they will be prepared to do what they want to do. But I refuse to be their pawn any longer. They've ruined Kurenai's life and I can't bear it if they keep doing that to her. She deserves to be happy like she was today. As for us, we'll skip on that reward they promised and go home. To Konoha. And then, we'll set everything right there to welcome Asuma and his crew when he wants to come back."

Tears appeared in the corner of Shizune's eyes. Today, she was happy to wear her jounin vest once more. She was going home.

* * *

Flashback…

"Tsunade, Shizune," said the King. "As Kurenai's appointed godmothers, you heard the prophecy and for that you must protect Kurenai. It is also crucial that you do not reveal this prophecy to anyone for the danger it may pose to the kingdom. Now, even as I am speaking, a impenetrable fortress is being made to protect the princess and to ensure her safety, I will appoint you, Tsunade of the sanins and you Shizune, student of Tsuande to protect her."

"You will take care of her as her nursemaids," said the Queen. "You will not tell her of the prophecy or the fact that you are her godmothers. Only when the worst happens – an intruder of that certain quality – can she leave the fortress. Before she leaves, you must tell her a few things but at the same time, you cannot tell her everything."

The King continued, "Do not completely reveal our identity for it may be dangerous for her to travel around the land as a princess. Also, do not tell her what the prophecy is. One must not find out their destiny unless they live it out. Thirdly, send her to the capital city where we will deal with the – intruder."

The Queen opened a box and revealed a necklace. It was a simple silver medal with a crimson stone in the middle shaped like a leaf. It hung on a black leather cord.

"When that day comes, when the intruder comes, and she is about to leave, give her this medal. The guards recognize this as the princess's possession and when she comes and show it to them, they will know whom she is. Also, the fortress will have a messenger pigeon and a passageway you must never reveal to her. You may use it to get supplies from the village. The pigeon is to be sent when that fateful day comes. Send it to us to tell us that she is coming to us so we can prepare what is necessary."

"And lastly," said the King. "You may tell her her last name. Nothing more. Now, you will be sent to the fortress in a few days, please be prepared."

"Yes your Majesty," said Tsunade and Shizune.

End of Flashback…

* * *

So far, their ride on the broomstick was refreshing. The warm afternoon sun was shining, casting off a gentle warmth. Below them, they say that they had gone out of the walls and nearing the village. **Now to figure out how to land this thing…**

"Ano… Kurenai, just to warn you I don't know how to land this thing."

"I figured…"

"Oh."

"Ano… what now?" They were over the perfect landing spot where the woods and the village path met.

"Let's not crash the broom like you did last time…" said Kurenai. Asuma nodded in agreement. They began to test out commands such as 'stop' and 'land' or 'get down you damn broom' but with no avail. Then suddenly, Kurenai had an idea. She tipped the broom downwards before Asuma could protest and once again, the broom was hurtling towards the ground in a breakneck speed.

"WHAT ON EARTH WERE YOU THINKING?" yelled Asuma but Kurenai didn't answer. She was concentrating hard and finally, just before the broom was about to hit the ground, Kurenai yelled: "STOP!" And that was exactly what it did. Unfortunately the only consequence was that they fell hard onto the ground as the broom was tipped diagonally.

* * *

Author: My… you guys landed in an awkward position… 

Asuma: -blushes- (Kurenai is also blushing furiously.) Shut up and go away!

Author: Hey I'm the author, I could kill you tragically if I wanted to!

Asuma: Darn those authors.

Kurenai: Ano… could you get off me now Asuma?

Asuma: -blushes even more- Right away. -gets off Kurenai-

Author: Now, ano… I'm not supposed to be here. So I was never here! -disappears-

* * *

After regaining their dignity, Asuma carried the broom and went towards the inn. Kakashi, it so happened was outside reading his favourite book 'Icha Icha Paradise'. When he notice Kurenai and Asuma, he looked up. 

"Oy! You two look good together! Are you two dating?" asked Kakashi with his usual happy-go-lucky smile. Kurenai, suddenly taken aback by the question started blushing.

"It's nothing like that," she muttered but Kakashi didn't hear.

"Stop saying random stuff about people Kakashi. Anyways, I need you to round up the boys as fast as you can. We're leaving ASAP! Understand? Now go!"

Kakashi disappeared in a puff of smoke.

"Now… Kurenai. Ano… ano… you seemed to have forgotten to pack your stuff so I'm going to give you some money and you can get some clothes or something at the village. And don't feel the need to pay me back. Fulfilling the dream of a charming young lady is enough. So ano… meet me back here in fifteen minutes 'kay?"

Kurenai gave Asuma a little hug and she headed for the village. Staring into the distance, Asuma was blushing.

* * *

"Watashi no yume…" Hinata hummed her favourite song. Her heart was filled with happiness knowing that Naruto-kun was waiting for her by the edge of the woods. In the distance she could see his figure standing there, waiting for her. He turned around and saw her. 

"HINATA-CHAN!" he yelled. Hinata smiled and said her simple hello but this didn't seem to bother Naruto. "So what should we do today? Asuma-oniichan is still gone so I can still play with you!"

"I don't care Naruto-kun. Whatever you want to do." Was Hinata's reply. She was happy to be with Naruto-kun. Even though she only knew him for a day, she felt happy around him and looking at him made her feel more confident.

Suddenly, a puff of smoke appeared behind Naruto, which shocked Hinata slightly. Turning around to see who was behind him, with a kunai in hand, he saw Kakashi.

"Kakashi-oniichan, what's the matter?" he asked.

"Asuma has already returned from his challenge, he requests that everyone go and meet back into the inn as soon as possible and pack up because he wants to leave as soon as he can."

"Okay… I'll be there soon."

Hinata was heartbroken. She was so stunned, she didn't notice the tears that were once again forming in her eyes like yesterday. Naruto was unable to look her in the eye. **_I hate saying goodbye… I don't want to go yet, when I've finally made a friend…_**

"So Hinata-chan, I guess… I guess this means goodbye. But don't worry, I'll see you again one day! I promise and I never go back on my promises! That's my way of the ninja! And when I do come back, I want to show you Konoha where I'm Hokage! So don't be sad…" he said as he held Hinata in another hug. Tears were pouring down her face and they wouldn't stop. Finally, she broke away.

"I wish…" she sobbed. "I wish you could stay or I could go with you but I can't… obaasan (grandmother) needs me."

"It's okay. We'll see each other again." He forced a smile and with a wave, off he went for he didn't want to make his goodbye even harder than it already was.

"Naruto-kun…" she said in hushed tones. She felt as if she wouldn't feel happy ever again.

TBC…


	8. Changing

Disclaimer: I'm starting to like these disclaimers… I don't own Naruto but I do own the piece of fan art called "Changing" which is what this chapter is named after. The site that leads to my picture is my homepage. Go see it!

The Princess and the Rogue - His and her fairytale

I love Kakashi – normal

_I love Asuma – Kurenai thinking (italics)_

**I love Kurenai – Asuma thinking (bold)**

_**Yay! Ramen with Hinata! – Naruto thinking (bold with italics)**_

Chapter 8 – Changing

Hinata sobbed as she frailly reached for the handle of the old random abandoned barn in the middle of the forest. She didn't want Naruto-kun to leave but he had to and she was going to be all alone again. For the last day, she had felt better about herself and now her world was falling apart.

She walked inside, wanting the comfort of her room but instead she came face to face with her grandmother. Perhaps face to toes to be exact. Hinata had lost all her confidence she had gained the previous day. She couldn't look her grandmother in the eye anymore.

"Hinata," said the grandmother reassuringly. "You care about that boy very much, don't you?"

Hinata wasn't shocked that her grandmother seemed to know what was going on. She always seemed to know what was on her mind. To answer the question, she nodded.

"Would you give anything to be with him? Even give up your present lifestyle?"

Hinata looked up again and once more she nodded.

"Then go to him."

Hinata was shocked. Looking at her grandmother in the eye, she saw a look of encouragement.

"But obaachan… you're old, you need someone to take care of you or else something might happen," said Hinata, she was no longer sobbing.

"I'm not that old and besides why should I keep you from getting stronger? It's been my dream to see my little girl grow up to be a strong young lady. It's time you start changing Hinata. No more of that shyness or fear anymore, sometimes all you have to do is to look destiny in the eye and walk on."

That realization finally hit Hinata; she knew that this was exactly what she needed to do.

"Thank you obaachan. Should I start packing now?"

"That's my girl! Now go and pack… I will prepare a few things for you."

* * *

Hinata took one last look at her room. She decided to leave some of the more unuseful possessions she had here. 

"Besides, I'll come back, I promise," she whispered to all her small trinkets on her shelves. Checking her bag again, she made sure that she had everything she needed. Her clothes were tossed in untidily since she knew she would have to go back to the village quickly. She had everything she needed.

Going downstairs, she saw her grandmother; in one hand, a bag full of food and in another, a letter.

"Hinata, this is for you," she said, handing her the bag full of food. Hinata put this in her bag. "And this, you must give to the leader. I would prefer if you don't read it."

Hinata understood; and with a last hug goodbye, she set off.

"Sayonara obaachan! I promise I'll come back to you one day!" she yelled as she ran to the village as fast as she could with the letter in hand. She had to be fast if she was going to see Naruto-kun again.

"She's definitely starting to change…"

Although the old soothsayer knew that she was already starting to miss the girl, she was finally happy that Hinata had started to change into the strong young woman she envisioned her wonderful granddaughter would be.

* * *

In the village, the last remaining men in Asuma's group were assembling in the village square. They were waiting for Kakashi and afterwards they would leave. Kurenai had come back from the village with a plainer outfit that didn't make her stand out as much. Asuma thought she looked pretty nonetheless. Asuma was anxious to move on but they had to wait for Kakashi to start the introductions. Looking around, he saw a depressed looking Naruto in the corner. He was about to ask what the matter was when Kakashi showed up. 

"Yo!" he said. "Sorry I'm late, I wandered off the path of life."

"LIAR!" yelled everyone else. Even after a few years, everyone was still annoyed with Kakashi's lame excuses.

* * *

Author: Personally, I adore your excuses. They're funny! 

Kakashi: I'm glad someone likes them! -smiles-

Author: -Blushes and fighting an urge to hug him- Can I hug you? -Still blushing-

Kakashi: Sure! -hugs-

Author: Yay!

Hinata: -Tugs on author's sleeve-

Author: Yes Hinata?

Hinata: Shouldn't we get back to the story?

Author: Oh yeah! Back to the story! -Still hugging Kakashi-

* * *

"Anyways," said Asuma. "This is Kurenai. I'll explain her story on the road but for now this is all I'll say. So let's go." They all started to turn to walk until they heard… 

"NARUTO-KUN! MATTE KUDASAI! (Wait please!)"

"HINATA-CHAN!" yelled an excited Naruto. They all turned towards the source of all the commotion. They were surprised to see a girl with violet hair running towards Naruto. In a flash, she was in front of him, slightly out of breath.

"I came…" she started but stopped. "… to join you."

Everyone seemed surprised that this statement but the girl calmly gave Asuma a letter.

"From obaachan," she said. Asuma opened the letter.

* * *

Dear Sir 

You may probably know me as the old hag who lent you the broom but for now, I ask you to spare some time to read this letter. My daughter Hinata has become very attached to that boy in your group. To my surprise, she has already met the young man by herself therefore your part of the deal has technically been fulfilled. But this technicality has not been fulfilled on your part so I ask you kindly to take in my granddaughter in your group instead. You may keep the broom if this helps in any way. I promise, she will not be a burden upon you. The young man's sadness if she didn't come would be more of a burden if you ask me. So please, satisfy an old hag and little girl's whim.

Sincerely,

The Soothsayer

* * *

Asuma sighed and looked at the girl. He didn't have time to argue. 

"Hinata, right?" he asked. She nodded. "Alright, there's another addition in our group, Hinata-chan. Treat the two new ladies kindly now."

He turned to Kurenai.

"For obvious reasons, can you take care of the girl?" She nodded with a smile._ It'll be nice to have another girl around when you're travelling with a whole bunch of men._

Hinata looked at the other woman in the group and was taken by a sense of familiarity. She knew she was going to get along with this lady.

"So you're Hinata… you're a brave girl for coming with us. I'm Kurenai… I guess you can call me Kurenai-oneechan. Can I call you Hina-chan?"

"Of course… Kurenai-oneechan."

TBC…


	9. Bonding

Disclaimer: .oturaN nwo t'nod I or simply is the correct order, I don't own Naruto. Kakashi in a scarf… now I wish I owned that – and Kakashi in general. Oh wait… I should say that I don't own the Wizard of Oz or Monty Python either. P.S. Another title named after fanart I did that's on my "homepage".

The Princess and the Rogue – His and her fairytale

I love Kakashi – normal

_I love Asuma – Kurenai thinking (italics)_

**I love Kurenai – Asuma thinking (bold)**

_**Yay! Ramen with Hinata! – Naruto thinking (bold with italics)**_

**Note #1: To Bigfatbirdwithnolegs: Since when did Asuma saunter down a yellow brick road and defeat a man-eating rabbit? Oh… nevermind…**

**Note #2: I hope you all know the abilities of the Sharingan eye. If you don't then this is a quick note. It is able to copy jutsus using a complicated process and it is also able to see through most genjutsus. For detailed info, look around the internet.**

Chapter 9 – Bonding

Asuma was sauntering down the yellow brick road with a big smile on his face. Usually, he would have a cigarette in his mouth but today, he didn't need nicotine to cheer him up. He had just defeated the vicious man-eating rabbit that had eaten many people, including the current excuse of a Hokage and he was about to go back and see his true love once more. As he approached his newly won castle, he saw Kurenai running towards him, shouting his name passionately…

"Asuma, Asuma, ASUMA!" The annoyed shout was followed by a small smack on the head. **What? It was all a dream?** He saw Kurenai in front of him giggling.

Asuma was still slightly sleepy but got up. His crew usually just got up when they felt like it and when they were all up, they would have a "easy" breakfast or in other words, tossing random things together to make something half edible and then going on with the journey. It was rare to have a wake up call unless trouble was approaching, which usually didn't since the one who's usually awake early (usually Genma) would enjoy a little fight with petty bandits.

"Ughh… why'd you wake me up for?" he asked.

"Everyone is waiting for you to start the scrumptious breakfast Hinata made so Kakashi told me to wake you 'cause he was too busy wandering down the path of life," replied Kurenai. "Oh, and just to let you know, you're hilarious when you mutter in your sleep. You were saying something about yellow brick roads… and if I'm not mistaken, I was mentioned at one point…" A smile spread on Kurenai's face as she saw Asuma flush at the comment.

"Anyways, you better get going. Everyone's starving," said Kurenai as she led him to the campfire where everyone was anxiously waiting for him. Asuma sat down and his bowl was filled.

"ITADAKIMASU!" they all said happily and silence reigned as the boys ate their first decent breakfast in quite a while.

Naruto, the first one to finish, broke the silence.

"See Asuma-oniichan! Hinata-chan is very useful, she cooked us breakfast!" he said.

"There's no need to convince me to let her stay, she's staying. I didn't drag her out of town just to abandon her in the middle of nowhere so you can go back and pay more attention to her now." Naruto turned tomato red. Kurenai and Hinata, who were sitting together giggled. Asuma turned to Kurenai.

"Are you going to train her, just for self-defence?" he asked.

"We're one step ahead of you. We started training yesterday when she couldn't sleep and you were muttering in your sleep," she replied.

"Will she ever let that go?" he mumbled.

Only a day had passed since the team met Kurenai and Hinata. Both of them got on very well with the rest of the group. Hinata was greatly liked for her culinary skills that the boys themselves lacked. She was also closely guarded by Naruto and both seemed to have grown very close since their first meeting. Kurenai on the other hand was the one whom everyone was hitting on. She was the first woman in the group whereas they still considered Hinata a girl. Her presence seemed to enchant the group (including Naruto who considered her like an older sister) into the group and she was often bestowed with much attention. This was fine with Asuma since, his non-blood brother, Kakashi continually humoured him by saying, "Asuma and Kurenai-san look good together and I think they're dating." Eventually, much to Kurenai's relief, the guys started to hit on her less.

After a week, a routine seemed to ensue. Kurenai would continue to wake Asuma up so everyone could eat the breakfast Hinata had prepared. They would then pack up and set off towards the capital city and from time to time, they would stop by a nearby village for supplies. They would eat lunch (again prepared by Hinata) and keep going. When dusk was looming closely, they would either camp out or stay at an inn. Hinata would then do a little bit of training with Kurenai followed by dinner (prepared by the boys this time unless it was a special occasion). After some rest, the day would start anew.

* * *

Three weeks have passed since the girls joined the group and the capital city was getting closer with each step.

"Oi, Asuma!" yelled Genma. "We're running outta supplies here. We should stop somewhere soon."

"But we're so close to the capital city," replied Asuma.

"It's okay Asuma, we should stop," interrupted Kurenai, who knew that Asuma was eager to arrive in the city soon for her sake.

"Fine. We'll stop at the next village."

And so they did. The village they stayed in was a quaint little town where nothing really happened. Or so they thought.

* * *

Izumo, one of the members of the team was out shopping for supplies. After acquiring all the items on the list that Hinata had made, he decided to take a break. Seeing a teahouse, he decided to step in and get a drink. There weren't very many customers inside but oddly enough, he felt a strange presence. He looked around inconspicuously but when he did, he felt the presence no longer. After some tea and thinking, he decided to shrug the whole thing off.

* * *

The innkeeper stepped out of the kitchen to empty out the leftover food for the pigs. Upon entering the pigpen, she noticed that she was stepping in a pool of blood. Gasping as she dropped the leftover food, she noticed the corpse of the inn's guard dog, Taku. She ran back inside screaming. The cry was immediately subsided by a slap from her husband who told her that her scream would scare the customers. After knowing what the trouble was, he quickly disposed of the body.

"All this fuss for a dog," he muttered. "Yet it's strange. If there was an intruder nearby, then why didn't Taku bark? Oh well."

* * *

Hinata and Kurenai were taking a bath. After some time, Hinata decided to get out; Kurenai wanted to stay. After drying herself and putting on her clothes, she went back to the room she shared with Kurenai.

* * *

Asuma was playing shogi with Kakashi again on their free day off. Silently strategizing, Asuma watched all the shogi pieces on the board. His thoughts were interrupted by a frantic Naruto followed by Kurenai, who were bursting through the door.

"ASUMA-ONIICHAN! ASUMA ONII-CHAN! HINATA-CHAN'S MISSING!" yelled Naruto as Asuma plugged one finger in one ear.

"Okay, okay, calm down. You don't need to burst my eardrums," Asuma replied. "So are you sure she's not in the inn somewhere or maybe she went out shopping with Izumo."

"Izumo came back and said that he went shopping alone. Her coat was in our room and we searched the entire inn and Hinata's not here. I told her not to wander out of the inn without one of us and she's not one to disobey," said Kurenai.

"This is strange… who would want to kidnap Hinata – no offense. Plus, with the group being just a couple of guys travelling, there's no point in trying to get to us by kidnapping one of our members, we're not really all that special either," said Kakashi.

"WELL SPECIAL OR NOT WE HAVE TO FIND HINATA-CHAN!" yelled Naruto.

"Okay. Naruto, gather everyone here."

In minutes, all were gathered in Asuma's room in the inn. In time, the whole group adored little Hinata who made most of their meals and was always helpful. Everyone was concerned indeed.

"All right everyone, I think you've heard the news so I will waste no time. We must find Hinata and make sure she isn't in danger. Genma here will stay here in the inn and if you find her report back to Genma and then start spreading the news. Be here by sundown. Okay? All right, now go!" he said, and all went in search of Hinata.

* * *

Hinata woke up with an odd pain in her arms. She tried to move them but she couldn't. Alarmed, she looked and realized that she was tied up uncomfortably against a tree.

"Ano… what's going on?" she asked herself. She tried to remember what happened to her after her bath. She remembered coming back to her room… black fabric… and a tap on her neck and then everything went black…

"I see that you are awake," said a voice behind her. The voice came closer and closer until it was right behind her. The figure took some of Hinata's hair and smelled it as if it wanted to capture some of her scent. She turned her head as much as she could to get a glimpse of her captor. She found herself staring into two red eyes, with a pupil that was surrounded by three comma-like shapes. She flinched as he laid a hand on her shoulder.

"There is no need to be afraid," he said, as he planted a small kiss on her forehead. Tears were forming in her eyes while her mind was crying out for her Naruto-kun.

* * *

Knowing Naruto's concern of the girl and his usual carelessness, Asuma and Kurenai decided to follow him when in search of Hinata. When they stepped out of the inn, they found the innkeeper's wife in a shaken state.

"Ano… are you feeling well?" Kurenai asked the innkeeper's wife.

"I'll be fine," she replied. "Taku, our guard dog died today. It was brutally killed but I guess no one cares but me. I raised him."

"I'm sorry," said Kurenai in reply.

"So, ano… I saw everyone scattering off everywhere, what happened?"

"Hinata, one of the members of the group is missing and we're looking for her," said Kurenai.

"Oh, you mean that little girl?" inquired the innkeeper's wife.

"YES, YES THAT'S HER!" yelled the anxious Naruto.

"Well, I found this near the pigpen later on when I went to clean off the blood. I think I remember her with it," said the innkeeper's wife as she held out a pin given to Hinata from Kurenai sometime before.

"THAT'S HERS! WHERE'S THIS PIGPEN?" asked Naruto.

"Here come behind the inn," said the innkeeper's wife calmly. She led them to the back.

"Let's start our search here then," said Asuma. The innkeeper's wife left them with a slight bow.

Naruto was frantically looking around while Asuma stopped to think… **Is there a logical explanation other than kidnap that may have caused Hinata's disappearance? Maybe she went out to find Naruto but got lost in the process. If that were the case then someone would find her soon…**

"Asuma!" yelled Kurenai. "We might have a problem." She was on the roof of the pigpen holding a shuriken.

"What is it?" he asked. "Hey, Naruto, maybe you should come here too." Naruto and Asuma jumped onto the roof.

"Asuma, I think this is Hinata's," said Kurenai as she held up the shuriken. "I gave a weapons bag when we started shuriken and kunai training. She always had it with her."

"But Kurenai that could be anyone's shuriken. One of the boys who passed by might have dropped it," said Asuma.

"Well, if it were, there wouldn't be a trail of them would there?" Kurenai pointed to the randomly scattered shuriken behind the pigpen.

"Naruto, I've got a feeling that we'll be needing Kakashi's dogs for this. Can you go get him?" Without a word, Naruto obeyed Asuma's instruction.

In minutes, Kakashi was also on top of the roof on the pigpen and with a couple of hand seals, he immediately summoned Pakkun. Perhaps out of concern of Hinata, Naruto was smart enough to retrieve Hinata's coat from her room as her scent was long lost on the pin and shuriken as Kurenai held them for a very long time. After a few minutes, Kurenai, Asuma, Naruto and Kakashi were following Pakkun who was pursuing Hinata's scent. During the pursuit, everyone was silent in deep thought, except for Kakashi who was receiving information from Pakkun and had to reply.

_I hope Hinata's safe. I don't know why she would be kidnapped but whoever did it is going to pay. I'll make sure of that._

**This is getting bad. We don't know who the enemy is so this might get bad. I just hope we can just get Hinata back and leave. It would be best if we left without a fight…**

_**I will never forgive this person if they hurt Hinata.** _Naruto was clutching Hinata's coat tightly.

"Hinata seems to be very close by according to Pakkun," said Kakashi as he repeated what Pakkun said to snap them out of their own thoughts. They picked up speed and eventually they were in front of a giant tree.

"I've never seen a tree like this from the village. You would usually see trees this big from a distance," said Kurenai.

"Well, you don't see this tree since it's genjutsu," said Kakashi as he covered his sharingan left eye once more with his forehead protector. Knowing this, all four of them made the right hand seal along with the cry of "kai!" to dispel the genjutsu.

The tree quickly disappeared and was replaced with a make shift tent that was held up between two trees. Inside the tent was a dark figure holding a scared-looking Hinata.

"WHAT ARE YOU DOING TO HINATA YOU PERVERT?" yelled an enraged Naruto. Without another word he charged against the figure but in a flash, he disappeared with Hinata. A second later Naruto was struck from behind.

"Naruto, get back! This enemy is dangerous!" yelled Kakashi as he unveiled his sharingan eye once more. Kurenai went to retrieve the injured Naruto as Kakashi and Asuma blocked off the attacks of the oncoming enemy. **Kakashi was right about this guy being dangerous; without Kakashi's sharingan ability, I can't even see the enemy, let alone save Hinata from his evil clutches.** Kakashi, being one of the stronger team members was starting to get the upper hand of the enemy. Finally realizing, that he couldn't fight full force if he still held on to Hinata, he decided to let go of the girl. **He probably wants to kill us first and then get the girl…** Asuma took this opportunity to grab Hinata away. Naruto's injuries were minor and so he quickly put Hinata on Naruto's back and told him to go back to Genma for help. **At least Naruto and Hinata would be safe. **

"So I see that you will take my precious little treasure away from me," said the cloaked figure.

"We'll protect Hinata with our lives and we won't forgive anyone who tries to hurt her," said Kurenai. "Now, reveal to us who you are! We'll make sure we'll put that name on your gravestone."

"Me? Die? I think not," The cloaked figure darted in front of Kurenai and tried to strike at her but a well-aimed kunai from Asuma momentarily made the enemy pause and allowed Kurenai to dodge the blow. Kakashi managed to get behind the attacker and cut off his cloak. The attacker was revealed.

Gasps came from all three. There he was, in the sunlight. The feared S-ranked criminal that killed his entire family.

"Uchiha Itachi," said Kakashi.

"What did you want with Hinata?" asked Kurenai. "ANSWER ME!"

"Hinata, was it? Beautiful name for her… my precious treasure."

"You don't make any sense, tell us now!" Kurenai was very protective of the girl, who was like her little sister now. She would defend her from anything or anyone including Uchiha Itachi.

"One who lives in darkness, wanders aimlessly they say," began Itachi. "But when you find that little light, you become drawn by it like a moth. Hinata is like a little light for one who they say is tainted with blood. Such innocence is alluring… I'd like to see her mar that innocence of hers… Such an infatuation is not good for me and yet she is a fascinating creature. She goes unnoticed and yet she is noticeable. She happily chooses a life with exiled shinobi and yet she herself is weak. One like her will become someone great and I will help her to the path of greatness."

"Someone like Hinata doesn't need you to become great. She can do that herself," said Asuma. A smirk appeared on Itachi's face.

"It doesn't matter… as long as she's mine at the end of the day, I shall be happy."

"We won't let that happen that's for sure," growled Kurenai. Itachi was still smirking and his eyes began to change.

"Oh no!" yelled Kakashi. "Close your eyes, quick!" Asuma and Kurenai obeyed at once. They knew that Kakashi knew more about the sharingan than they. Kakashi could only close one eye since his sharingan couldn't close.

"Mangekyou Sharingan," said Itachi. Kakashi was trapped in a strong genjutsu he was unable to get out of. Kurenai and Asuma could hear Kakashi's cries with their eyes closed. They could still sense Itachi's chakra, which meant that he was still there, probably savouring all the pain that Kakashi was going through. Finally the cries stopped.

"Don't – don't open… your eyes… yet," gasped Kakashi.

Suddenly, a whoosh sound could be heard coming from the trees. Fighting sounds were heard and finally, Asuma and Kurenai decided to open their eyes. They saw Genma and Raidou fighting off Itachi while Kakashi was in front of them, trying not to collapse in a heap in the middle of battle. Itachi had probably noticed that the two others had refrained from closing their eyes and that he was at a disadvantage.

"I will leave Hinata alone… for now," he said, and with a flash, he disappeared. **He must have almost run out of chakra… his sharigan eyes were deactivated…**

Asuma carried the defeated Kakashi back to the village and the others followed silently.

* * *

"Asuma," said Kurenai, who was behind him. "Here, I swiped some food for you from the dinner table." Asuma was comtemplating on todays events and had decided to skip dinner to see how Kakashi was doing. "Don't worry about Kakashi, he'll be fine after some rest."

Asuma nodded.

"You realize that this will stop us from going to the capital city in a few days," said Asuma.

"You should stop worrying about these things. I'm fine. Besides, I'm thankful that I had company on my quest." She put a hand on Asuma's shoulder. "Especially since the company I had included the man who saved me. Thank you." Kurenai blushed as she said the statement. Her blush was deepened when she was pulled into an embrace with Asuma.

"Sorry…" he started muttering as he looked away. Kurenai grabbed his face and made him look at her.

"We have some unfinished business from the fortress you know," she stated with a daring look in her eyes. Asuma smiled.

"You're right."

Asuma's left hand cupped her cheek while the right held her waist. Kurenai's hands slid around Asuma's neck as they kissed deeply, enjoying the pleasure they were denied while in the fortress. When the kiss ended, they spoke not a word but stayed in their embrace for as long as they could.

TBC…


	10. Moving On

Disclaimer: Meow meow meow… I don't own Naruto. I wish I owned Kakashi… Oriya from Yami no Matsuei too… yum…

The Princess and the Rogue – His and her fairytale

I love Kakashi – normal

_I love Asuma – Kurenai thinking (italics)_

**I love Kurenai – Asuma thinking (bold)**

_**Yay! Ramen with Hinata! – Naruto thinking (bold with italics)**_

Chapter 10 – Moving On

A week had passed since Itachi had kidnapped Hinata. The whole team was on the alert and to Asuma's back's dismay, they had to move to another village thus making Asuma carry the heavy and weak Kakashi there. They had now settled in another inn with Hinata, as usual cooking meals. The moral in the group was low due to the fact that one of their teammates was injured. Even so, romance blossomed in the group. It seemed to have become official that Kurenai and Asuma were dating. During break times, they would be constantly seen together; whether this too decreased the group's morale was questionable. Even after a week, Kakashi was weak but was recovering slowly…

* * *

"Hey," said a gruff male voice behind Kurenai. Kurenai turned around to be greeted with a light kiss on the cheek from Asuma. He sat down beside her and put his arms around her waist. Kurenai was glad to oblige for she was worried.

"Asuma," she started. "We know that the morale in the group is low but for some reason, I feel that Hinata's been distant lately. She hasn't really been talking to Naruto either and he's worried. He told me yesterday that he was concerned for her 'cause she's always locked in her room if she isn't cooking or training and she isn't talking to anyone. I didn't realize it at first but I'm really worried about her. She said she was fine after the incident but I didn't feel she was but she's not one to hide her feelings from me or Naruto."

Asuma's fingers ran through Kurenai's hair and brought her head gently closer to him. Kurenai buried her face in his jounin vest while waiting for a reply. Asuma lit a cigarette and took a puff.

"Well, when you ask her she's going to say she's fine just because she doesn't want you to worry or to think she's weak but the fact is I think she's still a bit traumatized by the whole thing. I mean Uchiha Itachi isn't just some benevolent weirdo who comes by and helps you. He might have done something to Hinata that she's afraid to say. You might really have to talk to her about this one Kurenai."

"But she won't talk to me."

"Well, has Naruto tried talking to her?"

"He said he tries but he's just doesn't know what to say when he's near her. He says that she looks so upset that he doesn't know what to do anymore."

"Well, I suggest you try and get Naruto to be up front and talk to her 'cause she loves that guy no matter how flawed he could be. Besides, he has a talent for doing these sort of things."

"Yes, well he's a boy…"

"And?"

"Boys don't know how girls think," she said teasingly.

"Really?" Asuma cupped Kurenai's face and gave her a passionate kiss. Although she was distressed about Hinata's situation, her stress faded away for one moment as she savoured the taste of Asuma's mouth.

* * *

Naruto was watching Hinata cook in the kitchen. Usually, she would add all the ingredients of her meal with a smile and a happy tune. But for the past week, the kitchen was silent save for the sounds of the food cooking.

"Talk to her up front about the situation Naruto-kun. It will probably make her feel better if she talks about it and if the situation is worse than you can handle, you can always tell me or Asuma about it. Okay?" **_That was Kurenai-oneechan's advice…_**

Naruto worked up all the courage he had to walk into the kitchen. For the past week, he was scared of talking to her in fear of offending her or upsetting her even more. It was obvious she was avoiding him and everyone else.

"Hinata-chan…" began Naruto.

"N-nnaruto-kun, I-I'm cooking now… please d-don't disturb me now," she muttered while her eyes were downcast.

"No Hinata-chan. I really have to talk to you." Naruto was tired of being ignored.

"J-just let me f-finish l-lunch first and then we c-could talk."

Naruto complied and sat in the kitchen as he watched Hinata silently. Lunch was served but neither Naruto or Hinata ate very much. When everyone left to either wash the dishes or do other chores, Naruto dragged Hinata into the inn's little herb garden. There, they squatted down in between the rows of parsley and basil.

"Hinata-chan, tell me what happened to you when that bastard Itachi kidnapped you." Their eyes met for a moment but Hinata quickly looked away.

"Ano… ano…" muttered Hinata as she mindlessly traced patterns on the gournd. Naruto was losing his grip; he punched the ground with full force, making Hinata jump backwards.

"Dammit Hinata! Why can't you tell me what happened?" Tears were forming in his eyes but he closed them quickly to try and hold the tears. "You aren't talking to me and I know you're upset but I don't know what to do. Tell me what to do Hinata. Onegai."

Tears were already falling down Hinata's cheeks. She thought of the reason why she joined the group in the first place. To become a stronger person… to be with Naruto-kun. 'It's my turn to be strong for Naruto-kun," she thought. Still in tears she pulled Naruto in a gentle hug and Naruto was glad to return it.

"Hinata…"

"Naruto-kun… that day… Itachi took me to the wood and when I woke up he was there. He looked at me in such a strange way Naruto-kun; I was so scared. He didn't hurt me but he kissed me on the cheek. I was so scared that he was going to take me away and that I'd never see you again. I thought that if you did, you would hate me."

"Hinata-chan… I would never hate you. I'm sorry if I ever made you feel that way." Naruto held her tighter. "But you did see me again and that's all that counts right?" Hinata nodded.

"You know Hinata, I'm glad you told me that. I thought that perhaps you were mad at me or upset with me and I… I don't ever want that to happen because… because…"

Naruto pulled out of the embrace and held Hinata at arms length.

"I would never want you to hate me because I love you Hinata…" Naruto flushed but still looked straight into her eyes.

"I love you too Naruto-kun… ever since the day I saw you." Nothing was said afterwards, nothing needed to be said as the two kissed for the first time.

* * *

By dinnertime, Hinata had gone back to her own self from her newfound happiness. The secret of their new relationship had come out somehow and Naruto was being teased quite unmercilessly. Of course, he didn't mind for he was now one of the happiest people on Earth.

Asuma and Kurenai watched from their own spots of the dinner table. They were happy for the new couple. As they were watching them, Kurenai put her hand on top of Asuma's. _The blissful adventures of love…_

Suddenly…

"Sorry I'm late, I saw a black cat so I had to take another path," said a healthier looking Kakashi. His comment was replied with a hearty: "YOU LIAR!"

Izumo finally got up and got everyone's attention.

"Everyone, we are now about ten miles from the capital city. Let us all pray for success in helping Kurenai-san! To Kurenai-san!" All of them toasted Kurenai.

_So it's time I find out more about myself…_

She smiled at Asuma.

"You know, you wouldn't have made it this far without me," he whispered.

"I'm glad," she whispered back along with a kiss on the cheek.

_I'm finally moving onto another chapter of my life… and hopefully, it will be a good one._

TBC…

**

* * *

Notes: Gosh… I can't believe I whipped up a chapter so quickly… hope the romantic scenes weren't too… I dunno anything bad… I also wanted Naruto to be the first to confess this time… hope that worked out.**

**Please review!**


	11. Kurenai wa doko desu ka

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto. If I did then you would see Asuma and Kurenai more often. What a cute couple.

The Princess and the Rogue – His and her fairytale

I love Kakashi – normal

_I love Asuma – Kurenai thinking (italics)_

**I love Kurenai – Asuma thinking (bold)**

_**Yay! Ramen with Hinata! – Naruto thinking (bold with italics)**_

**Note #1: Well I'm glad I made the rating slightly higher for this fic 'cause there's some innuendo in this chapter. I never intended it but it just came out this way. I'm sorry if this fanfiction sucks and you can flame me if you want.**

**Note#2: Doko means where.**

**Note#3: This is a short chapter 'cause I wanted to update. More coming soon. Yakusoku.**

Chapter 11 – Kurenai wa doko desu ka

"They said you were one of the best shinobi there is! How can you come back with such incomplete information?" yelled the King. "The briar fortress had stopped receiving their supplies meaning that either my daughter and her two protectors have escaped or they are DEAD! This is already a big mess as it is! I don't need a shinobi who can't complete his mission! You're fired Uchiha Itachi!"

Itachi removed his presence in front of the King. He understood nothing. Hinata will be his even if he had to be fired from the King's service to have her.

"What has happened to you dearest daughter?" muttered the Queen.

* * *

Kurenai surveyed the village in front of her, the huge castle in the background stood out with all its glory.

She felt a hand around her waist as Asuma pulled her in closer.

"So that's where we have to go?" he asked. She nodded in reply. "Should we go tomorrow? Everyone's exhausted." She replied again with a nod.

They all decided to stay the night in an inn.

* * *

Kurenai woke up in the middle of the night and got dressed. _I'm sorry Asuma but I've got to do this alone. Tsunade obviously told us to go together because you're deeply implicated and this and you're probably going to be in danger if you come with me to the castle. I can't do that. I don't want to see you die or get hurt – especially after all the things you've done for me._

Kurenai stood by Asuma's sleeping figure and gave him a kiss on the cheek. _Kami-sama, please don't let this be our last kiss._ She walked towards the door and with one last look at Asuma she disappeared into the night.

* * *

"Kakashi-san," said Hinata. "Have you seen Kurenai-oneechan? Last night, she said she was going to bed a little later but when I woke up this morning, it looked as if she hasn't even slept in her bed."

Kakashi smirked. "Maybe you should ask Asuma about that Hinata-chan. Well speak of the devil…"

Asuma came out from his room rubbing his eyes. He was dressed only in his boxers. Kakashi couldn't suppress a smile as Hinata's face went beet red as she turned around.

"Oi, have any of you seen Kurenai?" he asked.

"Hinata was just asking about that," replied Kakashi. "Something about having her bed unslept in…" Kakashi grinned as he saw Asuma look away as he flushed. He also noticed that Hinata was still cautiously looking the other way but had trouble keeping her eyes there when she was able to peek at Asuma from her view.

"Don't worry Hinata-chan, I'm sure Naruto will let you see him shirtless. He's quite well built, even for a twelve-year-old. Trust me, we've all bathed together before," teased Kakashi.

"Hey, what's this about me now?" asked a curious not to mention shirtless Naruto. This time Hinata turned the brightest shade of crimson. (The night before was pretty warm so most of the boys slept without their shirts.)

* * *

Author: Hey! Kakashi isn't shirtless! -Sob-

Kakashi: I'm a gentleman, I get dressed before I come out of my room.

Author: -Cries-

Kakashi: Awww… don't cry. -Hug-

Author: -Attempts to pull his shirt off-

* * *

"Nee, Hinata-chan, I should put on a shirt shouldn't I? I'm probably making you nervous or something," said Naruto with an embarrassed look on his face.

"No, I think Hinata-chan doesn't mind," said Asuma. He joined in to Kakashi's teasing. "I should be the one putting on a shirt so I don't overshadow you Naruto-kun."

"Eh?" Naruto didn't understand but judging by the small giggle that came from Hinata, he knew she did. "What's going on Hinata-chan?"

"Nothing. Nothing, I was just asking Kakashi-san where Kurenai-oneechan could be and he said to ask Asuma-san but Asuma-san doesn't seem to know either."

"Really? I woke up last night and I heard footsteps outside. I peeked through the door and I saw Kurenai-oneechan leaving."

"What? Why would she leave?" asked Asuma.

"Were you that bad Asuma?" asked Kakashi.

"Now, now, not in front of the children."

"I'll ask you later then." –Glare from Asuma.–

"Anyways, why didn't you stop Kurenai-san from leaving Naruto?" asked Asuma.

"Well, I didn't know she was going to leave!"

"You could've asked her or something!" stated Kakashi. It seemed as if he knew everything.

"Well… well… ano… I couldn't… " Naruto started muttering and bore the crimson stains on his cheeks that were usually seen on his beloved Hinata-chan's.

"Something happen Naruto-kun?" asked Kakashi with a smirk.

"What's the matter Naruto-kun?" asked a concerned Hinata as she laid her hand on his bare shoulder. Naruto turned an even deeper shade of red.

"Ano… I need to get dressed, I'm cold." Naruto disappeared back into his room.

"Well, even after that we still don't know where Kurenai-oneechan is," said Hinata. The once light mood had disappeared and Asuma's face turned grim.

"Don't worry about it Hinata-chan. I think I know where she is."

* * *

Author: I'm so sorry for all the innuendo! I really am! I don't know why it's there but it is! So I'm sorry, flame me if you have to!

TBC…


	12. A New Quest

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or any of its characters. There, I have nothing else to say. Isn't this the lamest disclaimer I've done so far?

The Princess and the Rogue – His and her fairytale

I love Kakashi – normal

_I love Asuma – Kurenai thinking (italics)_

**I love Kurenai – Asuma thinking (bold)**

_**Yay! Ramen with Hinata! – Naruto thinking (bold with italics)**_

Chapter 12 – A NewQuest

"Now, now don't fidget, you won't fit the dress properly if you do that."

"I'll fidget as much as I want."

"But your highness you must look well in front of your people."

"They probably wouldn't care what I look like. I look like me anyways."

"Obviously, your nursemaids didn't teach you proper etiquette."

"Screw proper etiquette, just let me wear whatever I want. I'll look good in it, trust me."

"But my lady!"

"Fine. I command you to leave me alone and let me wear what I want."

"But…"

"You want to be tried for treason?"

"N-no, Kurenai-hime."

"Good. Now go."

"Yes your highness."

The lady-in-waiting left the room. Kurenai sighed a breath of relief. The stupid dress they tried to get her into was the most uncomfortable thing in the world. She took off her dress and reached for an article of clothing in her bag. From the very bottom, she pulled out a dress she never wore but bought the day she escaped from the fortress. _I didn't really buy this dress… technically it was Asuma; it was his money…_She sighed again.

It was almost two days since she left Asuma and she missed him and the rest of the group already. _I wonder what they're doing right now. I hope they aren't looking for me…_That night, she had left the inn, and she went to the castle and followed Tsunade's instructions. When she had showed the guards the medal, they brought her immediately to the royal chambers where she saw her parents for the first time. She didn't seem surprised that her mother and father were the queen and king for some reason. She felt numb and unresponsive as the King and Queen embraced their daughter. They asked her questions about how she got here and when she was freed but she never once mentioned Asuma. She had to protect him. Finally, they had sent her to bed without knowledge of the prophecy or the reason why she was locked up in a prison for sixteen years. Even so, she felt no anger, only loneliness.

She started to put on the dress. Gazing at her reflection, she sighed for the hundredth time today. _I wish I could see the expression on Asuma's face when I wear this._ Thoughts of Asuma had probably crossed her mind as much as she sighed.

The door opened abruptly and in came her so-called mother.

"Kure-chan! I hope you're feeling better today. What happened to the dress you were supposed to wear?"

"It was uncomfortable, besides emerald green isn't my colour. This suits me better," Kurenai said to her mother, the Queen. She adjusted the straps of her crimson dress. _Asuma said I always looked good in anything crimson. _She smiled and took one last look at the mirror. She could see that her mother sighed behind her.

"Well, crimson was always your colour since you were a baby…" she admitted. She went over to her daughter and straightened out her dress.

"Mother." Kurenai inwardly winced at the word. This woman was never her mother but she needed answers, even if she had to manipulate her own flesh and blood.

"Mother," she said once more in a more demanding tone. "Why was I locked up in that fortress for so long? Was there really a prophecy made about me when I was born?"

"It's not my place to answer these questions dear. Besides, I don't want you all flustered when our people is about to meet their princess."

"What do you mean it's not my place? You're my mother!"

"I'm just saying… your ahh… father should tell you."

"I'd ask him but he's busy doing something or other apparently."

"Umm… He won't be busy soon…"

There was a knock on the door.

"Your majesties, the King wishes your presences on the royal balcony."

"Time to go Kure-chan," said the Queen. They all walked out and they soon were in the doorway that led to the royal balcony where the King would proclaim important news to his people.

"Hear ye, hear ye! Our princess, Kurenai-hime has long been gone and has come back into our presence! All hail Kurenai-hime!" proclaimed the King.

"ALL HAIL KURENAI-HIME!" cheered the people.

"To all the people of my kingdom and to all that have the will I give thee all a quest! To the one who manages to climb this perilous high tower I've constructed over the last two days will have the hand of my daughter whether he is a peasant or prince!"

"WHAT?" yelled Kurenai. She looked at the tower; it was perilous all right. At the bottom, shards of glass encircled it as if were a moat after a few metres, briars encircled the tower until almost it reached the place beneath the window, which was covered in long spikes that were in turn covered in spikes. _What the heck?_

"Kurenai-hime, please follow us. Two strong guards dragged Kurenai to the entrance of the tower. They pushed her in through the door and quickly did the hand seals that would seal the door so that it no longer opened. Kurenai saw a long flight of stairs. She sighed. _I might as well climb them. It's not like I'm not used to being imprisoned. _After a few hours she managed to climb to the top of the tower, which had only one room with many luxuries and supplies. _This might look nice but it's still a prison._ She sat unhappily at the window… watching… hoping… _Asuma…_

* * *

Asuma knew that news of Kurenai would come soon. Anxious as he was, he waited but his presence brought on a wave of depression on the group, therefore he usually isolated himself, waiting. Finally news of Kurenai came to him. 

He was walking down the village square to clear his mind when he saw a crowd gather around the royal balcony. The King spoke but Asuma heard no sound. He saw Kurenai behind him, in the shadows. It wasn't until the cheer of, "ALL HAIL KURENAI-HIME!" he heard noise. Before then, he was too distracted by Kurenai, his Kurenai to take any notice of anything else. And then it hit him. The announcement.

"To all the people of my kingdom and to all that have the will I give thee all a quest! To the one who manages to climb this perilous high tower I've constructed over the last two days will have the hand of my daughter whether he is a peasant or prince!"

It was his chance. **A quest? Involving Kurenai nonetheless. There's no doubt that I'll do this. I will save her.** He looked at the tower. **It isn't so bad… that hag did give me a useful object after all… not to mention a very valuable addition to the group…**

TBC…


	13. Hinata Helps

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto. I wished I owned Kakashi though…

The Princess and the Rogue – His and her fairytale

I love Kakashi – normal

I love Asuma – Kurenai thinking (italics) 

**I love Kurenai – Asuma thinking (bold)**

_**Yay! Ramen with Hinata! – Naruto thinking (bold with italics)**_

Chapter 13 – Hinata helps

Hinata was out grocery shopping again. She didn't mind the task particularly, she actually enjoyed the task as she could look around the market for anything else she liked. Asuma had always allowed the girl to buy anything for herself with any extra money that would be left over once all the items on the list would be bought. Today, Hinata was looking at a pair of shoes. They weren't very good for travelling as they had a heel that was slightly high for someone who would walk long distances but they were very pretty. Hinata liked them for the heel especially since she had always felt she was short. She had been the shortest girl in the village and even now, she was the shortest person in the whole group.

'Oh well' she sighed. The shoes were too expensive anyways. With her leftover money she went and bought herself an ice-cream.

oooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

Hinata was greeted with a hearty shout when she got back.

"Hinata! Just the person we need!" said Asuma. After some words, a plop sound was heard. Hinata had dropped her ice-cream.

ooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

The wind whipped Hinata's face. Even with her cloak, she felt cold. Then again, it was the dead of night.

"Ready, Hinata?" asked Asuma. She merely nodded in reply. "Up we go then."

Asuma flew the broomstick up towards the tower. Earlier, he had examined the tower with Kakashi. With Kakashi's rough calculations it was concluded that with Asuma's build, he would not be able to go through the window of the tower. In fact, most of the crew wouldn't be able to fit into the window or even climb in without any difficulty. Luckily, Hinata was short enough to fit through the window, and with a carefully devised strategy, they would be able to save Kurenai. Slowly, the broomstick ascended and slowed as it reached the window.

"Remember the plan Hinata," said Asuma. "Everything you need will be in the bag." He passed her a bundle as he flew by the window. He was careful to avoid the large spikes that surrounded it. As he looked carefully, minute ones spikes covered the large ones.

"As I expected," he muttered. "Do you have those shoes on?"

"Yes," replied Hinata. She took a last look at her shoes which were heavily padded on the bottom with rubber.

"All right then. Good luck."

Swiftly, Hinata stepped onto spikes and quickly went towards the window. With one quick step, she climbed in and out of sight.

**All I can do now… is wait.**

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Hinata frantically ran towards a door inside the tower. She didn't have much time. Grasping the doorknob, she tried to open the door but with no avail. Praying that luck was on her side, she kicked it until…

ooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

_Who on Earth? So late at night too…_

Kurenai opened her door. To her surprise, it was Hinata standing on the other side of it!

"Kurenai-oneesan!" cried Hinata happily.

"Hinata? What are you – "

"There's no time to explain, Asuma-niisan is sure that they'll find out somehow when someone comes into the castle. You've got to hurry."

They ran towards the window. Swiftly, Hinata took out explosive seals in the bundle that Asuma had given her. She was about to place them around the window when…

"Look what we have here… someone who is saving the princess…" said a woman's voice in the darkness

Hinata and Kurenai turned around. A woman with violet hair and a beige trench coat was standing in front of a man with a scarred face with a black trench coat.

"Anko?" asked the man.

"What Ibiki?" she replied.

"We found the rescuer… we're supposed to take them to the palace but… don't – "

"Just take them to the palace, I wanna go back to my sake," yelled the woman.

"You're going to get poisoned one day with all that sake."

"MIND YOUR OWN BUSINESS! Besides, sake isn't all I want," she purred as she put her arms seductively around the man's neck.

"Um…" started Hinata.

"Oh right, back to business. Just come with us, we won't hurt you," she declared. Quickly, she dragged them both to the palace. Hinata and Kurenai were too shocked to protest.

TBC…

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Sorry for not updating for a year. To make up for it, the next chapter will be up very very soon.


	14. Confusion Ensues

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto but I have temporarily stolen Kakashi. -huggles him- Bwahahahahah… Kishimoto sensei… please don't kill me.

The Princess and the Rogue – His and her fairytale

I love Kakashi – normal

I love Asuma – Kurenai thinking (italics) 

**I love Kurenai – Asuma thinking (bold)**

_**Yay! Ramen with Hinata! – Naruto thinking (bold with italics)**_

Chapter 14 – Confusion ensues

"Anko, I think we've got the wrong person here…" said Ibiki.

"We got the person who tried to rescue the princess though," replied Anko.

"But, that would mean that the prophecy would be – "

"Ibiki, I love you, have I told you that?"

"THAT HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH THE CURRENT SITUATION WHATSOEVER!"

"Jeez, just trying to get you to lighten up a bit Ibiki."

They had exited the tower from a tunnel underneath the ground which only the two named Anko and Ibiki knew about. Now, Hinata and Kurenai were sitting in a room. Waiting. For the King and Queen. What for, they had no clue. Finally with an announcement from the chamberlain, the King and Queen came out.

"My, my finally, we'll see who the…" began the Queen. "Anko, Ibiki, did you get the right person?"

"She was the one who went in to save the princess," replied Anko.

"But… it… strange…" muttered the Queen.

"But – " began Hinata.

"Young lady, did you try to save the princess tonight?" asked the King.

"Yes… but – "

"Oh my…" said the Queen.

"IS THAT ALL YOU HAVE TO SAY? OH MY?" yelled the King. "The prophecy said – "

"Well… maybe we should let her be happy?"

"Um… mom? Dad? Wha – "

By now, the King was near tears as he buried his face in his hands. The Queen came towards Kurenai.

"My daughter dearest… we're happy that you've found the person whom you dearly love…" said the Queen.

What? How did they know about Asuma? 

"…we're glad that you're happy…" she continued. "Even if this… relationship would label you as a lesbian pedophile."

"WHAT?" yelled Kurenai. "Since when am I a lesbian pedophile?"

"There's nothing wrong with swinging that way… and she's not that much younger than you," answered the Queen as she put a hand on Hinata's shoulder.

"That's not – " began Hinata.

"Your majesties," announced a guard.

"Now now, it's perfectly all right," said the Queen.

"Your majesties," announced the guard again.

"Was that old hag confused?" muttered the King to himself.

"Your majesties."

"STOP JUMPING TO STUID CONCLUSIONS!" yelled Kurenai.

"Your majesties."

"KURENAI!" came a voice at the back of the room.

"WHAT?" she yelled back. She was getting tired of this stupidity.

"Your majesties," began the guard again. "There is a young man at the back of the room requesting to see the princess."

"So she's not a lesbian pedophile?" inquired the King.

"SINCE WHEN DID I BECOME ONE IN THE FIRST PLACE?"

"Yeah, since when did you become a lesbian pedophile Kurenai?" asked a familiar voice behind her.

"Asuma!" she cried.

"Those guards are easy to slip past your majesty," said Asuma as he wrapped his arms around Kurenai. "I missed you."

"HAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHHAHAHA! The princess is cheating on you little girl!" yelled Anko from across the room. Her cheeks were red and she didn't seem to be walking properly.

"Um… sorry… she's a bit drunk at the moment. Forgive her," said Ibiki as he dragged her out of the room.

"WOULD SOMEONE EXPLAIN TO ME WHAT ON EARTH IS HAPPENING?" yelled Hinata. Everyone stared at the young girl.

"Never knew you had such a loud voice Hinata…" said Asuma. "Well, someone has brought us to our senses. Would your majesties care to explain everything to your ignorant subjects… and your daughter before any other ridiculous comments are spoken?"

"I guess it's time to explain," said the Queen.

"Yes indeed," replied the King.

As they all settled themselves comfortable, the King began to speak.

"When Kurenai was born…"

TBC…

I will update soon. I promise. The story will end in a chapter or two.


	15. A New Tomorrow

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto but I shall glomp Kakashi to make up for the fact that I don't own him. –glomps Kakashi–

The Princess and the Rogue – His and her fairytale

I love Kakashi – normal

_I love Asuma – Kurenai thinking (italics)_

**I love Kurenai – Asuma thinking (bold)**

_**Yay! Ramen with Hinata! – Naruto thinking (bold with italics)**_

Author's comments: Ok. I'm sorry. Why? Well… this story is becoming more crack-ish as chapters go by so if this chapter is way weird. I'm sorry. And Itachi can get very OoC in this chapter so bear with me. If there are still any loose ends, please tell me. So **READ AND REVIEW PLEASE!**

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Chapter 15 – A New Tomorrow

"When Kurenai was born…"

Crash. Boom. The sound of glass shattering filled the room.

"WHERE IS SHE? HINATA!" yelled the voice of the figure that broke through the window.

"HAHAHAHHAHAHHAA! Now the little girl is cheating on the princess!" came a voice in the hall.

"Forgive me your majesty, Anko – she wouldn't leave. She's extremely drunk – ignore her pl – " started Ibiki.

"There's noooothing wrong with meeee Ibiki. Heh. Wanna fight you writtle weasel boy? Think you can get awray writh breakin' windows?-hic-" Anko asked the dark figure that broke the window.

"Anko – fighting when drunk is not advisable."

"Shut up Ibiki, you'll get your lovin' -hic- when I beat dis guy up. K?" Flop went Anko as she fell to the ground. An awkward silence filled the room. Even the dark figure was still.

"Um… excuse me?" piped Hinata. "Itachi-san… why do you have a weird lolicon obsession with me?"

Everyone stared at Hinata in disbelief.

"How'd you know it was me?" asked Itachi.

"Who else in the story would seem like a dark mysterious figure who has a weird infatuation with me?"

Itachi did not reply.

"Now that I've answered your question, answer mine," she said bluntly.

_My… she's really changed…_**Never thought I'd see the day this would happen…**

"Didn't I say why last time?" asked Itachi.

"I don't recall. Either that or you scared me half to death for me to remember."

"Well… For someone like me, your innocence is alluring and –"

"I guess I could be considered the most innocent in the group but how would you know that?"

"Well, I've been watching you and following you, and –"

"For how long?"

"I think… since I saw you."

"That's creepy. Not to mention you're a criminal. And you have bad breath. Brush your teeth sometime. I don't like guys like you so leave me alone. If you don't I swear I'll train as hard as I can to beat you up so you will leave me alone."

Asuma and Kurenai were trying to hold back their laughter. Itachi had a stunned look on his face.

"Just when you think you saw it all…" muttered Asuma.

"By the way, why are you here anyways?" asked Hinata.

"I… I…" stuttered Itachi.

"And while we're on the topic of you Itachi," began the King. "The design for the tower was a mess! We didn't catch this young man whom I'm guessing saved my daughter but the little girl! And there I was bawling my eyes out with the fact that I had locked up my little girl for so long without seeing her just to know that the prophecy had screwed up!"

"You shouldn't have done such a stupid thing in the first place," stated Hinata.

"My, Itachi, I don't think Hinata is as innocent as you think she is," said Asuma.

"Yeah, so stop stalking me you creepy pervert."

"This… this was all a dream… I'm going back to bed…" said Itachi as he wandered out of the room aimlessly with a blank look in his eyes.

"That poor boy needs help," stated the Queen.

"A good psychiatrist more like," replied Hinata.

The King nodded in agreement and cleared his throat.

"Well, all interruptions aside, I guess it's time for us to expl – "

"IBIKI COOL! YOU HAVE SCARS UNDER YOUR SHIRT!" yelled a drunk Anko who basically just ripped off Ibiki's shirt.

"I'll… get her to her room and make sure she stays there," assured Ibiki.

"Teeheehee Ibiki you dirty ol – " A firm hand clamped over her mouth as she was lead out of her room.

"Are they always like this?" asked Asuma.

"I've got a feeling that the answer is yes," replied Kurenai.

"Well, they are reliable guards… most of the time," remarked the Queen.

The King cleared his throat once more.

"I shall now begin," said the King.

"Maybe you should get to the point," began Asuma. "So Kurenai got locked up in that place for all her life because of a prophecy. Care to tell her what it is?"

"During the day you were named dearest daughter, a soothsayer was invited to see what see would see in you. And this was the prophecy she made for you:

Kurenai will fall in love with the first man she sees.

_Wow… I guess that prophecy did come true._ **I'll be less skeptical next time I encounter these things…**

"We feared for this since you could've fallen for anyone unworthy of you so we thought that we would protect you until we found the perfect husband for you," said the Queen. "We thought the fortress was foolproof, until the gentleman here somehow broke into it."

"We thought that if someone did manage to break into the fortress, we would summon them here. If they were unworthy of you, we would kill him and somehow erase your memories and when you open your eyes, a more suitable gentleman will be there in front of you," continued the King.

"It was very surprising when we found out that you had escaped since Tsunade and Shizune were supposed to tell us if someone managed to come into the fortress."

"Wait – Tsunade, Shizune, how are they now?" inquired Kurenai.

"No worries, they were not punished," answered the King. "In fact, even if we wanted to punish them, it wouldn't be in our best interests to do so. A month ago, in the ninja village, your old nursemaid had defeated the corrupt hokage. She is now hokage of the hidden village of fire."

"That means… I can go back home!" said Asuma excitedly.

"Not so fast young man," interjected the Queen. "We were distressed when we discovered our daughter had run away with some man we didn't know. But luckily for you, the first thing Tsunade did as hokage was to send us a letter stating that you were a fine young man and you would make our daughter happy. We won't be so kind if you were to leave her to go home."

"I'm not leaving her, if she wants to, she's coming with me," he stated, holding Kurenai closer to him.

"I guess that fine…" said the King sadly. "You do have a younger brother – he's out hunting at his friend's manor – so he can rule the kingdom. But I haven't spent time with my little girl!" Taking Kurenai out of Asuma's arms, the King gave his daughter a big hug.

"Don't worry," the Queen whispered to Asuma. "He's always wanted a daughter and he has a huge daughter complex sort of thing. Maybe it's a good thing he didn't raise her. She'd be spoiled half to death."

"One more question," Hinata said boldly. "Why did you lock Kurenai-oneechan in that tower?"

"If the young man was worthy enough for my daughter then he'd be able to save her wouldn't he?" replied the King.

"I would've been able to if the window wasn't too small," grumbled Asuma.

"That was Itachi's fault. We agreed to not imprison him – he's quite a clever young man – in exchange for his service to us. But lately, he's become quite an unstable character," explained the Queen.

An awkward silence finally filled the room.

"So… is this the end of this adventure?" asked Kurenai as she got out of her father's strangling grasp.

"I guess so," replied the King. "Well, what we do now?"

"If I may say," began Hinata. "You two –" She pointed at the King and Queen should spend a little time with your daughter and probably her fiancée. Kurenai blushed at the comment. "After that, I'm guessing you'll marry Kurenai-oneechan right Asuma-oniisan?"

Asuma shyly nodded.

"Then the crew will go back to Konoha and then we'll visit my grand-ma. Right?"

"Never expected you'd get so darn clever Hina-chan," said Asuma teasingly.

"Perhaps it's time for all of us to get some rest now," declared the Queen. "It's been a long night, hasn't it?"

They all agreed and got the rest of the crew so that all could stay in the palace. When dawn came, they knew that it would be the beginning of a bright future of fun, adventure and joy.

Author: THE E –

Hinata's soothsayer granny: HEY! You aren't ending this story yet you young'in!

Author: But, it's been such a long story. It should end soon…

Granny: Not without my last word it won't!

Author: Fine. It's not the end yet. Granny has something to say.

Granny: I'll say it in the next chapter. The spotlights will be on me then! So tune in!

TBC…


	16. A Wedding and Retirement

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto. By the way, to Naruto: GET TOGETHER WITH HINATA ALREADY! –Goes and cuddles with Kakashi. Teeheehee.–

The Princess and the Rogue – His and her fairytale

I love Kakashi – normal

_I love Asuma – Kurenai thinking (italics)_

**I love Kurenai – Asuma thinking (bold)**

_**Yay! Ramen with Hinata! – Naruto thinking (bold with italics)**_

Chapter 16 – Wedding and Retirement

Back in the village where the fortress of briars lies, an old soothsayer is greeted in the morning.

"My, my, what do we have here?" she said softly as a messenger pigeon landed on her gnarly arm. She took off the letter attached to the pigeon's leg; as it flew off, she began reading.

Dearest Granny

It's me Hinata! It's been a while since I've written, it's been so busy but sorry nonetheless. The reason I have been so busy is that Kurenai-oneechan and Asuma-oniisan are getting married! It's been almost half a year since all of us reached the capital and happily for all of us, Asuma-oniisan and the King and Queen are getting along very nicely and Kurenai-oneechan has finally accepted her parents – even if they can lack common sense at times. It's been absolutely insane but at the same time tons of fun. Naruto-kun fell into a huge bowl of cake batter yesterday while sneaking into the kitchens. We didn't have cake for the party but the chefs whipped up other desserts really quickly. Speaking of Naruto-kun, he's behind me reading this letter and he tells me to say hello to you or the "weird soothsayer obaachan". Anyways, there is so much to do and Kurenai-oneechan is asking for me. I promise to write soon.

Love,

Hinata

P.S. Enclosed is an invitation to the wedding and afterwards, we all plan on coming back with you to the village before going to Konoha. I'm so excited!

"I guess my little Hinata has changed. That's wonderful," said the old soothsayer.

"Milady? Is this the soothsayer of this village?" asked a sudden voice. It belonged to a young messenger lad.

"Indeed I am. What brings you here?"

"This box is sent to you and it is from the King and Queen. They give you their regards and send you this package."

"Thank you," the soothsayer said, puzzled as she took the box from the lad. He bowed and walked off. She opened the box. Inside was a short letter. "I seem to be getting a lot of these today."

To the soothsayer

We thank you for your services at the birth of our daughter. Unfortunately, we realised that your services were unrewarded. In the box, compensation could be found. If there are any problems, do not hesitate to write back.

(Insert royal seal here) The King and Queen

She opened the other package included in the box. Inside was a considerable amount of money. The soothsayer smiled.

"Well," she started. "I need to get out of this stupid costume and get me something proper for the wedding."

The old woman began chuckling to herself as she walked into the village.

"The future is shaped by your own actions. I never knew… I never knew that I would one day get such a huge amount of money for a "prediction" of mine. And to think, my words came true!"

The old woman continued to chuckle as she walked by herself. She was going to have a very happy retirement.

THE END

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I hope you enjoyed the story! Many thanks to all the readers who read this, I hope you enjoyed it! Yay!


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